Calendar Boy
by Yui Miyamoto
Summary: [IP- Part 11 up] [Tokyo Babylon] Subaru has another shigoto given by a private client, but it involves him going undercover. He has to remedy the situation before the last picture of a calendar...and in order to do that, he has to pose as a model.
1. Part 1

Disclaimer: Clamp owns Tokyo Babylon  
  
Calendar Boy  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 1 – seduction is the name of the game…  
  
I looked at the outfit before me. I then brought my head up to look at her at eye level so that I could blink my eyes with an embarrassed blush.   
  
This was where I was drawing the line.   
  
I waved my hands with a red face while shaking my head. "No. Uh-uh. I will not wear this."  
  
"Subaru, stop being so obstinate about this," Hokuto persisted as she gave me a pouty look that just made me feel very guilty about refusing her. I never really did that before.  
  
Hokuto shook her head as she pointed her index finger while stepping forward with her bunny ears bouncing on her head. "But you have to, Subaru!"  
  
"No means no, Hokuto-chan," I said, almost surprised that _I_ was actually saying this to her.   
  
I gulped.  
  
Then, she gave me an evil eye. "This is part of your job."  
  
"I knew I shouldn't have let you answer the phone when Grandmother was on the line…" I sighed as I softly slapped my palm on my forehead. "I just needed to rest from actually coming home from school."  
  
It was really too good to be true. Having a normal day at school, I mean. There could never be a truly 'normal' day with Hokuto to begin with…  
  
"Grandmother said I needed to help you this time because I'm good at making outfits," Hokuto said as she smiled widely at me.  
  
"…" was my response.  
That was what I was afraid of…  
  
My eyes wandered to Seishirou, who was sitting in a chair at the small table with a hand over his mouth. He was trying to keep from laughing until he pulled down his hand and smirked at me.  
  
I always hated that smirk.  
  
"Don't you think Subaru would look good in that outfit?" she said to Seishirou as she skipped towards him and wrapped around her arms over his broad shoulders. Pressing her cheek to his, she said, "Ne? Ne?"  
  
[* Author blinks * _Boy_, I wish I was Hokuto right now…]  
  
Seishirou rose his eyebrows as he laughed, "Anything that he wears looks good on him."  
It was said as more of a seduction rather than a compliment though…  
  
Hokuto nodded in agreement.  
  
"T-that's not the problem!" I protested as I stammered with my gloves held in fists. "It's not that I don't like it, but why is it so…so…"  
  
How can you say 'breezy' to a girl that can pull off a red tube top, white shorts, and bunny ears?  
  
"That's the trend!" Hokuto shouted as she let go of Seishirou and scolded me with a serious tone, "If you don't change now, you will delay this 'shigoto'. You are running out of time. So, don't protest or I'll sick Sei-chan on you!"  
  
Eep…  
She crossed her arms while I sweatdropped.  
  
It didn't help that Seishirou held his hands out like a cat mockingly and purred, "Nyao."  
  
I closed my eyes really tight and lifted my hands. "I give up. I give up…"  
  
"Yea!" Hokuto said as she kissed me on the forehead and walked out of the room. Behind her, Seishirou came over and whispered to my ear, "Model it for me later. I won't take no for an answer."  
  
"Geh," I answered as the door closed behind me.   
  
I made sure it was locked.  
  
I sighed as I looked at the shorts and white shirt laid out on the bed. Maybe it wouldn't be that bad. Even Hokuto wouldn't be that awful…  
  
Nope. I was wrong. She could be that awful…  
  
"HOKUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" I shouted inside of my mind as I felt the air touch legs and more than I was accustomed to.  
  
As soon as I put the outfit on, I walked out cautiously to the beach with a shade of red that made it seemed like someone just put an iron on my face. I wanted to run right back into the house as I saw some people blush at me.  
  
That's really bad...  
  
I sneezed and rubbed my nose as Hokuto gave me a 'thumbs up' from far away.  
  
Seishirou…well, he was looking at me from head-to-toe. He then tilted his head cutely to one side and smirked at me some more…  
  
Great, they both approve…  
* sweatdrop more *  
So there I was standing near the ocean with the sand in between my toes. My back faced the sea as the lights and all the equipment were being set up to capture me on film.   
  
A make-up artist came to put some foundation on my face, but not much of it.  
  
I didn't like the fact of myself being photographed, but I had no choice. If I was going to find out-  
  
"Sumeragi-kun?" the director asked as he looked at me with much concentration.   
  
"Yes?" I answered.  
  
"Turn around," he said and I did as I was told.  
  
At that, I faced the ocean, but I had to turn my face for the camera to get my profile.  
  
The director instructed, "Lift up your arms."  
  
I lifted up my arms as I felt more of a breeze pass my bare stomach.   
At that moment, I was told not to smile while I seriously looked at the camera with my legs spread out a little and the wind blowing passively.  
  
I didn't feel like myself…  
I would have been content at that until the director said, "Sakurazuka-san!"  
  
The director said something to him.  
Seishirou just nodded his head as he came over to me.   
"Hello there, sexy," he whispered to only me.  
  
"Sumeragi-kun! Keep your stance!" the director said as Seishirou wrapped his fingers around my waist and made me have better leverage while standing.  
  
When he let go, he seriously told me, "Keep the serious look and don't smile at all. Please trust me."  
  
I pouted at him.  
  
"Really…" he said to me.  
  
At that moment, Seishirou took a bucket from someone, got some water from the ocean and poured it on my head. Then, he cleverly disarranged my hair.  
  
The makeup came off, little as it as, and I kept my stance while still looking at the camera with a straight face with water dripping from the curve of my body, my hair, my shirt, my shorts...  
  
Click, click, click…  
This wasn't me though…  
It still didn't feel right…  
Tsuzuku…  
--  
Author's note: * is blushing * Subaru in a wet t-shirt. Go Su~by! And shorts! ^_^v  
  
Yes, I do realize 'kimi no youni' and 'it's all in the look' are still in progress, but I'm truly stuck…and I'm researching more on TB and Yami as well as Kamui. ^_________^   
I'm making this fic because it popped into my head and to drive my sweetheart crazy! * mwah * I will finish this faster than the other two…  
Yes, I even realize that I'm making this from the first person perspective, but since the other two are in third-person omniscient, I'll have lots of fangirl fun with this! Well, I hope. 


	2. Part 2

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon is by Clamp.  
  
Calendar Boy  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 2 – beautiful and barely clothed.  
Let's back to two days ago…  
In Hokuto-chan's and my apartment…  
  
Smiling, I took off my shoes as Hokuto already ran into the hallway to get something to snack on. I was just happy that we were able to go to school together.  
That and the fact that the English teacher didn't pick on me because I was unable to study the passages for today's lessons. I was still drained from the last shigoto, but an opportunity to go to school was something rare.  
  
I wanted to go, even if to other's, they took it forgranted.  
To live normally, I mean…  
  
"I'm going to lie down for a bit," I said as I passed by the kitchen.   
Hokuto-chan peeked the door open a bit and shoved a piece of cake into my mouth. "Okay."  
  
"Mm. Very good. Strawberry." I licked the icing from my lips with a sincere smile and went to my room. After changing into a black tank top and faded blue jeans, I plopped myself onto my bed.  
  
With my hands behind my head, I was simply…sparkling? I was so very happy about going to school, so I stared at the ceiling like some fool-  
  
Fwump.  
  
"WAH~!" I shouted suddenly as I found myself being stared down by Seishirou. His hands were on either side of my shoulders. He smiled his mischievous grin and laughed. He didn't ask any questions as I just stared at him scared out of my wits about what I should do.  
  
As for Hokuto, she wouldn't help me. She'd encourage it!  
Then, I heard her shout loudly from the kitchen, "Oh, Sei-chan is here!"  
  
"So I see…" I pouted as I looked up at him.  
  
He just said, "Now I've got you right where I want you."  
  
"On my bed?" Question marks could be seen over my face as I blinked at him. "But what would we do here?"  
  
He sighed in exasperation. "My innocent Subaru-kun…"  
Seishirou shook his head as he smiled with nothing bad running through his head.   
  
Ring, ring!  
  
Opening!   
I started to excuse myself with, "I'll go get it-"  
  
"I've got it!" Hokuto interceded as she passed my room and smiled devilishly as she closed the door.   
  
"Ho-hokuto-chan!" I shouted as I looked back at Seishirou.  
  
Seishirou's face was in front of mine, but there wasn't that playful look in his eye. Instead, he brushed my bangs away as he leaned forward to kiss my forehead. "How long are you going to make me wait for you, Subaru-kun?"  
  
"What do you mean?" I blinked at him as I looked into his amber eyes.  
  
"I don't want you to ever grow up," he said sadly.   
  
"We all have to grow older," I answered with a slight smile. "These things are a part of life."  
  
He shook his head as he looked at me again.  
  
"Seishirou-san…" I mumbled affectionately.  
  
Then, he pushed himself off the bed and pulled my gloved hands to get up. At that moment, Hokuto barged into the room and said, "I get to work with you this time!!!"  
  
My eyes blinked as some part of me said, "Great!" The other part of me looked at Seishirou and at my sister. "Not good," it said.  
  
"What did Grandmother say?" I asked as Hokuto pulled both of our arms into the kitchen.  
  
As we sat on the stools, Hokuto-chan, who was wearing black cat ears, a tight black leotard, and a white skirt, served us coffee on the counter.  
  
"This is a special case…" she said in a serious tone while lowering her head for a moment.   
  
I knew this wasn't going to be an easy one in the least, but there was this creepy crawly feeling running up my spine as I looked at her.  
  
She leaned her arms forward and drank her tea. "Grandmother said that a client called because she wants to find her son. He has been missing for several months and she has no one to ask. The police have abandoned the case."  
  
"Why did they abandon the case?" Seishirou asked as he folded his hands and looked seriously at Hokuto.   
  
"They already suspect that he's dead, and the mother just wants to know what happened to him. Painful as it is." Hokuto explained. "She keeps on having dreams that he's crying as if he were five-years-old once more. Lost and alone."  
She continued, "And the mother believes it may have something to do with a modeling agency here in Tokyo called 'Wonderland'. It's been very popular, but she suspects they have something to do with it."  
  
I looked at Hokuto and folded my hands on my lap with a contemplative look on my face. My eyes shifted from side to side. I nodded my head. "So, what must I do?"  
  
"Grandmother says be careful. You'll have to pose as a model who's a free-lance right now, but you're looking for regular work." She then smiled and clapped her hands. "And I'm right here to provide your wardrobe."  
She then cackled, "And Sei-chan?"  
  
Hokuto caught his chin and smiled widely with her eyes closed. "Will you pretend to be his agent?"  
  
"You don't even have to ask," he answered.   
  
"Model?!" I squeaked as I almost spat the coffee I was drinking. "I-I-I c-can't do that!!!"  
  
Hokuto and Seishirou looked at one another as the glanced at the papers that Hokuto put on the counter of all the info we would need.  
  
"Are you listening to me?" I asked helplessly.  
  
They both nodded, but Seishirou got up, and carried me to the doorway. "H-hey, what are you doing?"  
  
"We're going to take some very nice pictures, aren't we?" Hokuto cackled as Seishirou put me down.  
  
I sighed as we ran around town to make me a portfolio…  
So that's how I ended up here.   
On a beach, cold and full of salt.  
  
At the end of the shooting, we went back into the rented house and I sneezed. As Hokuto got us warm-chocolate from the snack table downstairs, Seishirou handed me a big towel.  
  
"I've got some salt grains all over my body…" I complained lightly while sneezing and sighing.  
  
As I was going to take the towel, he instead enwrapped it over my shoulders. Then, he pushed me to one wall as he said, "I'll help you with that…"  
  
My cheeks burned as I felt him starting to kiss my neck as I tried to push him gently while saying, "B-but Hokuto-chan…"  
  
He pulled away from me and laughed. "I couldn't help myself."  
  
With his palm on his chin, he looked at me from head to toe. "I could just eat you right now," he pondered aloud.  
  
Steam was coming out of my ears as I ran to the bathroom. "You better not try to get in!"  
  
"That's no fun," he answered with a naughty grin.  
  
"Sei-seishirou-san!" I stammered as I closed the door.  
  
But I could still feel his lips on my neck as I took a shower. I shook my head and said to myself, "He always tries to embarrass me."  
  
Could someone love you that much?  
I wasn't so sure.  
  
I didn't know anything about love.  
All I knew was that I was getting there…  
  
…especially when his warm eyes looked so honest as he said, "I don't want you to grow up."  
  
Subaru, stop thinking too much…  
  
I got out of the shower to look before me. "Oh no…"  
  
I was so flustered that I forgot to grab clothes while running here. I blinked and saw the white, medium-sized towel in front of me. I didn't know what was worse: Asking for clothing from them or going to get it?  
  
Oh, they wouldn't be that juvenile to keep it from me…  
  
Wrapping the towel around my hips, I took a deep breath before opening the door.  
  
[*_* "…" * BLUSH *]  
  
As I came out, I stared at them as they stared back at me.   
"I forgot my clothes," I explained.  
  
"Something to look forward to when we get married," Seishirou smirked with pleasure while rubbing his chin.  
For a moment, I was a deer caught in the headlights. "A-ano…"  
  
Hokuto smiled and affirmed, "I told you he had a good body!"  
  
"It's like the difference between seeing a picture and the real thing." Even Seishirou blinked his eyes. "I may have to rethink what we do on our wedding night."  
  
I blushed so much crimson, I could have been bleeding as I quickly walked past them, and was about to grab something when Hokuto took them and threw them to Seishirou.  
  
"You never fail to amuse me with your maturity, Hokuto-chan," I commented with a sweatdrop while scratching my head.  
  
"Seriously, I want my clothes," I said to Seishirou while sighing.  
  
"While you're like that, we'll give you a new set."  
  
"Why?" I asked as Hokuto's playful tone changed.   
  
"I've arranged for you to 'interview' one of the men who may be a key to this shigoto's answer." Hokuto patted my head. "You'll have to go on a date with one of the magazine's directors and seduce him tomorrow."  
  
"WHAT?!" I put my hands over my mouth because I never really shouted. "Sorry."  
  
"We'll have to train you for a whole day to pretend you're a girl," Hokuto plainly said as she folded her arms and nodded her head. "He's the one who seems to know most about this case. And you may not have seen the way he looked at you, but we sure did."  
  
Seishirou patted my bare shoulder. "I'll be right behind you. And if he touches you, I'll kill him."  
  
"Seishirou-san…" I was kind of touched that he would say that because he felt so strongly. But it also looked like he'd actually do it…  
  
"You're mine," he smiled as he read my face while pushing up his glasses. They glinted under the room light.  
  
"See?! Nothing to worry about!" Hokuto-chan said as she clapped her hands together.   
  
I inquired, "Why do I have to be a girl?"  
  
"So that you can go around the town without being stopped," Hokuto said in an all-knowing tone.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"It seems that there's a pattern he takes on these 'dates'…" she said while assuring me that nothing would happen while they were around.   
She explained the details as I sighed while she took out a bag from under the table. Shoving it into my hands, I walked back into the bathroom.  
  
I pulled out whatever was in the bag and blinked my eyes.  
  
"I'm not wearing this!" I loudly protested.  
  
"We're not going through this again, Subaru!" she shouted back at me. "You hear me?! You have twelve days until the end of this shoot. That's the deadline."  
  
I looked at the cloth in front of me and cringed inside.  
  
"This will also be tomorrow's dress for the shoot," she explained to me through the door.  
  
I had to admit it was pretty, but could I pull off being a girl?   
In half a day?  
  
I dropped the towel and enwrapped the kimono around my body. Since I didn't know how to wrap anything, a plain, black sash had been provided.  
  
I stared at my reflection as I looked like a young apprentice from Tokugawa times.  
There was still that feeling that something wasn't right.  
  
It was as if a white canvas was painted over all wrong…  
And for a moment, I thought I saw someone else. I rubbed my eyes again to look at myself.  
  
This kimono was so impressive…  
It was dark purple with silver threads running all over like spider webs…  
I came out of the bathroom.   
And for a second, I couldn't see anything but Seishirou as he stared at me for a moment in awe. He hadn't expected this either, had he?  
  
"You never fail to amaze me," he stated without thinking.  
  
--  
Author's note: Wahahaha! Subaru in a kimono?! Yes, I've had a fetish for dressing little bishounen in kimonos, but can you blame me? When I think of a slit showing his legs, I'm already melting. And the towel?! Ahh, I love being a fangirl.  
It's kind of hard to write all three of them in the same room because I'm so used to having two characters in a fic and then somewhat integrating other people.  
On a different note…Yea! I know where the hell this is going! But please keep in mind, that this will be a somewhat touchy subject. ^^;;; I hope not to offend people, so please accept my sincerity for this issue I will try to write about. 


	3. Part 3

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon is by clamp.  
  
Calendar Boy  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 3 – the death angel.  
"Oh, I always knew I was a genius." Hokuto smiled widely as she stood up and folded her arms with a sure nod. "It's perfect! Woohoo! You are hot!"  
  
"Why must you make things that make me blush?" I asked her shyly as I looked at her while holding up the sleeves of the beautiful kimono.  
  
"You always did look best whenever you didn't expect it, Subaru," she seriously commented as she turned around and looked out the window. "You always think you don't look good. So, I make up for that."  
  
Seishirou looked at her even though she couldn't see it. Then he looked at me and frowned. "Why?"  
  
I shook my head as I just looked at him uncomfortably and shrugged my shoulders.   
  
At that, I thought Hokuto would come in and make a comment as usually did, but she turned around and eyed Seishirou.   
  
I looked at them with a confused expression.  
  
It's not his fault.   
I'm not embarrassed because of that…  
  
But I could see at the severity of her look that I wasn't in between their gaze. They were communicating silently between themselves.  
  
Hokuto then turned to me and smiled.   
I changed and then we packed our stuff to leave.  
  
We then said goodbye to everyone downstairs and headed to the hotel we had said we 'lived in'. Since I was undercover, I couldn't give them my true place of residence, and Hokuto had to make arrangements to live in a hotel.  
  
When she said, "I'll take care of it," I had a sick feeling in my stomach. And yeah, well…  
  
I sighed as I looked up at the five-star hotel we had driven to. Then, I blinked as we checked in and got to our rooms. We were living in rooms across from one another, 212 and 213.   
  
"And I'll live in 213 because I have to set up my sewing machine and there's not enough room for my dresses! So…" She patted my back as well as Seishirou's. With a wide grin, she said, "And this is your room, Subaru…with Sei-chan!"  
  
"Geh!" I protested immediately. "But, why does he have to live with me?"  
"Because you need a bodyguard and besides, it's easier for us this way."   
I shook my head with my hands in fists as my red face also made my opinion known. I gave her a look of, "You trust him with me?"  
She just winked at me as she gave me the keys with a smirk.  
  
"Hokuto…" I sighed as I pushed the key into the hole and went inside with Seishirou behind me. I put my stuff in the closet silently and then I sat on the bed with my hands folded. While looking at the floor, I sighed again.  
  
Seishirou then put his stuff into the closet. "Is it really bothering you?"  
  
Then, he put his bag down as he came next to me. Kneeling in front of me as if I were a child, he picked up my chin with his bent index finger and lifted my head up to look at me at eye-level. With concerned eyes, he asked, "Tell me that you don't want me here and I won't question you about it."  
  
"…" I didn't know how to answer him as I looked at him.  
  
"Subaru…" he sighed as he let go of my chin. "Let's make this clear. You have to tell me what you want in order for me to understand. I can't always read your silences."  
  
I blinked at him still failing to answer him.  
  
It wasn't that…  
I just don't want to get too close to you, Seishirou…  
  
"If you're unhappy with me, please let me know," he told me as he pulled me close to him while placing my chin on his shoulder. "And I won't bother you again."  
  
My eyes opened wide as I found myself wrapping my arms around him. "That would be so much worse," I whispered to his ear shyly.  
  
I couldn't understand myself. Did I want him here or not?  
Why are my feelings so mixed up?  
  
But I knew the answer too well…  
  
"I don't know, Subaru…" he trailed off, then sighed.  
His warm breath touched my back.  
  
"I'm afraid of you," I found myself saying as I held him harder with my eyes closed. "I'm cursed you know that?"  
  
He didn't say anything.  
  
"Everything I touch ends up hurting me in the end," I honestly told him. "Whenever I have the best intentions, things seem to be harmed deeply when I'm next to them. That's why I can only empathize with people to a certain extent."  
  
It was then that he said, "Is that why you didn't answer me earlier?"  
  
"My gloved hands…I'm always embarrassed to show them because of that. They remind me of many things." I started to cry. "They always make me think of death."  
  
He inquired, "Why?"  
  
"People always picked on me when I was little…" I then sighed as I held him harder. "Someone even told me 'You're an angel of death', and so no one wanted to be close to me. I didn't tell Hokuto because she was sick from school that day.   
"'That happened because you're always next to her. I don't want to be your friend!' a little boy cruelly shouted at me.   
"Later that year, the dog I loved died. I couldn't care for him as well as I should have."  
  
"And Hokuto…I didn't want to worry her with what I really thought…I can't even…" I tried to explain, but I couldn't put my thoughts into words.  
  
At that moment, he pushed me to look at him, but I wouldn't lift my head. He then put his forehead to mine and I found myself looking at him.   
He then pulled himself away, closed his eyes, and tasted my tears.  
  
My cheeks became flushed.  
  
"Hokuto said you looked best whenever you didn't expect it," he told me as he looked at me with a smile. "I believe she's right."  
  
I just blinked at him.  
  
Then, he reached out for my hands. By reflex, I pulled them away.   
But he pulled my arms and brought them out again since I found myself unable to fight against him.  
  
In amazement, he lifted up the back of my gloves and kissed each of them.  
  
"I wish I could understand you better," he sadly told me in a tone that I had never heard him use.  
  
He wouldn't even look at me.  
Tsuzuku…  
--  
Author's note: At the rate we're going, this may be longer than first expected. I think it's because I'm trying to get a different perspective between their relationship, as well as Hokuto's thoughts (supportive, sisterly, and dirty as they are). Okay by you guys? ^_~  
I don't like rushing anything because it makes me * sighs * perform less than what I want to. 


	4. Part 4

Disclaimer: Yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon. 'Infatuation' and 'Kimi ni' is my own lyrics. 'Crazy' is by Marysia.  
  
Calendar Boy  
By miyamoto yui  
Part 4 – Being close, being pushed away.  
  
I found myself saying to his ear, "I want you here."  
  
That's all I could say. It couldn't even begin to explain all the things that were running through my head.  
I wasn't scared about being rejected, for these things have been a part of my life. I was scared that he would also push himself away from me, even if he was right in front to me.  
  
I didn't know how to explain it. It was not about him leaving, but about him being 'cursed' if I loved him.   
I would hurt him too…  
  
Of all things, right now, I didn't want that to happen.  
  
He looked back at me with a serious face as he patted my hand, "Let's go out."  
  
"B-but, it's almost twelve o'clock," I protested as I found myself standing up with him already letting my hand go. While going to the bathroom, he shook his head, "Change into that kimono and let me know when I can come back out."  
  
I began to say, "You don't have to-"   
'Click' went the bathroom door.  
  
So, there I was going to the closet and taking out Hokuto's bag. I unfolded the kimono within my hands and started to take off my clothing.  
  
[ *winces * * blush * "I feel like such a voyeur." * continues to drool *]  
  
Then, I put on the kimono while pulling on the sleeves and wrapping the sash around my waist. I blushed as I looked around me to see if I had put it on correctly.   
  
"I'm finished," I called to Seishirou as I stood in front of the mirror looking at myself not really knowing what to say or do.   
  
I was going to just trust him on whatever he was planning to do.  
  
When he came out, I said to him, "I don't know how to put the sash. Do you think I should ask Hokuto-chan to put the obi on?"  
  
He shook his head as he came up to me and pulled on my kimono and wrapped the sash carefully around my waist. "This will have to do. We don't have time for that right now."  
  
"Don't have time…?" I asked in a confused tone as he wrapped his arms around me while I pulled on my sleeves and blushed at his solemn face.  
  
I couldn't read if he was still trying to avoid looking at me or if he was planning something.  
  
"We're going out," he said as soon as he tied the sash. "If you're going to learn to act like a woman, then you'll have to have a practice run."  
  
"Shouldn't I ask Hokuto-chan about this?" I asked shyly as he went into the closet and took out his bag. He took out a black jacket to compliment the black tie and white long-sleeved shirt he had on.  
  
He pulled on his jacket as he looked at me. He didn't say anything as he gestured for me to sit on the bed. He took out something else from another bag of Hokuto's. Then, he pulled my chin gently as he put lipstick on my lips.  
I blushed more as he pulled out a napkin and I did what Hokuto did whenever she put on makeup.  
At that, he got up and put on his shoes again while I was told to put on the slippers that would clack wherever I went. I didn't question it though.  
  
If he was going to go through all this effort me, I had to at least be grateful for it.  
When we left the hotel, I was to fold my hands over one another as we walked around. Seishirou asked me, "So, where do you want to go?"  
  
"I don't usually go out this late unless it's for a shigoto, Seishirou-san," I honestly replied, seeing how much of a child I was next to him.  
I looked at his profile while his amber eyes shined in front of me with mystery and foreboding. There was a danger to this mood that I wasn't accustomed to. Seishirou was too stern, and it seemed very strange for me to see him so flustered this way.  
  
I found myself reaching out to his hand even if I was super conscious about my own, especially since I had just told him what my gloves meant to him. "Seishirou-san?"  
  
He seemed kind of lost as he looked around him, trying to find somewhere to go.   
  
"Stop thinking about what I told you," I comforted.  
  
He glanced back at me and then looked away.  
  
"It's not like it's your fault," I tried to tell him while squeezing his hand.  
  
At that, he didn't say anything, but I felt like his hand had suddenly become so cold.  
For a moment, I thought he was going to just let it go.  
  
"Let's go eat something," he said as he grabbed my hand.   
  
"But I'm not very hungry right now, Seishirou-san," I said in an embarrassed tone. "Let's go somewhere quiet."  
  
He then nodded his head as he warmly squeezed my hand. "Walk straight, but not stiffly."  
  
"Oh," I said understandingly as I followed behind him.  
  
We found ourselves in a playground with a bench that most mothers would use to watch their children playing around the sandy area.  
  
Well, it was what I had always imagined. I sat on the bench with my hands folded on top of one another nervously while looking at the pavement. Seishirou stood next to me, while leaning on a tree. He took out his cigarette from his jacket and began to light it.  
  
"You shouldn't smoke," I said without hesitation.  
Even I was surprised by this forwardness overwhelming me.  
  
Then, I turned my head to watch him as his eyes gazed over the playground before us. My thoughts were lost on what to say to him until I found myself saying, "Hokuto-chan threw sand in my eyes once and then we had a fight. We threw sand at each other until our grandmother got so mad at us for getting ourselves dirty."  
  
He laughed as he puffed on his cigarette.  
  
"But it was fun," I laughed as I looked at the non-existent kids Hokuto and I used to be. I smiled at him, but then, I frowned as I looked away from him.  
Embarrassed, I also told him, "When I got older, I used to watch other children behind trees. I was too shy, and that was always my excuse. But no one could really understand a kid fascinated by seeing a mother and child together.  
"Mother, Hokuto, and I were never in the same room because she died when I was little. They say I have my mother's gentleness, but Hokuto had the half of her that would stop at nothing when she needed to achieve her goal."  
  
It was then that Seishirou dropped his cigarette and crushed it under his shoe. He sat next to me. At that moment, in the silence, he pulled my shoulder. I found my head resting on his shoulder while looking at him with a blushed confusion.  
  
But I didn't want to tear myself away.  
In a way, it was comfortable…  
  
…yet the nagging feeling of danger was overwhelming this latent sense of security.  
"You know what?" he asked me as he stared at the playground before me, "I used to hide behind trees too."  
"Why would you do that, Seishirou-san?" I inquired with puzzlement all over my tone.  
He smiled as he said, "I used to watch someone behind a tree."  
  
"Who?"  
  
A sharp chill of a knife's edge was invisibly being pointed into my neck. And yet, I wanted to know.  
  
"My hatsu no koi," he said as he chuckled to himself.  
  
His first love…  
  
Ah, of course…  
There would be someone besides me…  
  
"What was she like?" I found myself blurting out, cursing myself for these tendencies that no doubt were Hokuto's influence upon me.  
  
In a low voice, he half-answered, "What makes you so sure it is a girl…"   
  
Seishirou then turned to me and patted my head as he grinned while changing the subject, "How should I train you?"  
With that, he just got up as I stood next to him, disappointed that he would not reveal his inner thoughts to me.  
  
That was something that always bothered me.  
  
I stood there with my hands folded and my eyes blinking at him.   
  
"You've got the innocent look down pat." He laughed as he took my arm and we began to walk.  
  
I walked with my back straight as he had told me, but it was hard to do so while being so close to him without feeling more embarrassed than I already was.  
  
"You need to relax, Subaru-kun," he told me as we found ourselves in front of karaoke bar.   
  
"How is this going to help me?" I looked up the sign before us, forgetting that I was still holding onto him.  
  
"You need to learn to be both fun, yet reserved." He winked at me. "Be Hokuto and yourself at the same time?"  
  
I shook my head. "Thinking like her makes me dizzy."  
  
Seishirou pulled me and we got a booth in one distant corner. As we sat down, I looked at the well-decorated room. It had stars all over it because it had a space theme.  
  
Well, maybe these are the things I miss when I'm at work? Not that I enjoyed them immensely. Like that other time. I blushed a bit as I thought about Seishirou wrapping his arms around me from that time.  
It also made me think of what kinds of places Hokuto went to when she went on dates.  
  
I laughed to myself as I found myself looking at Seishirou flipping around for a song to sing.  
  
"What so funny?" he said as he smiled back at me. Then, like an eager teenage boy with a nervous date, he asked a silly question. "Is my plan working already?"  
  
I closed my eyes as I smirked at him. "I was thinking of the time that Hokuto's date once mistook me for her. And they were supposed to go to a karaoke bar."  
  
"Ah…" he said as he gave me a sideways glance. Then, he pressed his cheek against mine in a cute manner. "What do you think of this song, Subaru-kun?"  
  
No doubt my internal temperature rose to about a hundred degrees in less than a split-second.  
  
"You know I'm not good at singing. I just wanted to hear you sing," I told him as I blinked at him with my gloves making fists on my lap.  
  
"That's no fun," he told me as he put a book into my lap. "Either pick one song or I'll put it on random."  
  
Eep.  
I pretended to look for a song.  
  
I had no choice.  
  
At that moment, he pressed in the numbers for his first song. Then, he got up as he cleared his throat. Like the dork he could be, his eyes closed as he smiled at me. Opening his eyes again, he took up the microphone.  
  
Then, he began to sing 'Infatuation',  
  
"My tired heart has had it fill of sadness,  
and I don't think I can drink any more blood.  
And when this day came,  
I thought I was going to die...  
  
Don't know why  
Taking all the pain and swallowing.  
Don't know why  
I love you so much it hurts!  
  
This isn't Infatuation.  
Just say that you need me.  
You think it's too much  
then tell me and I'll stop,  
That is Infatuation.  
Tell me that you want me  
And I won't ask for anything else.  
I promise.  
There are too many lovers,  
You can say 'I love you' to anybody,  
but when I said it to you,  
I knew it was different.  
Thought it was the same my way.  
  
Don't know what  
love is really, but I'm understanding.  
Don't know how  
to show it without being too passionate.  
  
Infatuation  
is when your heart doesn't stop beating   
so fast that you think you won't survive.  
Want to be with you always, no that's not it.  
Infatuation  
isn't the kind of idea I want,  
that is just a feeling.  
I want the real thing.  
(whisper) You think I ask too much  
Then just push me away...  
I don't want just your heart  
I don't want just your mind,  
I don't want just your soul.  
  
I want everything.  
This isn't Infatuation.  
Just say that you need me.  
You think it's too much  
then tell me and I'll stop,  
That is Infatuation.  
Tell me that you want me  
And I won't ask for anything else.  
I promise.  
  
Infatuation (it's just an intense concept)  
is when your heart doesn't stop (an illusion in the least)  
beating so fast that you think you'd die, (that's if I lose you)  
Infatuation (It's just a frame of mind)  
isn't the kind of love I want, (it's just fake)  
that is just a feeling. (I don't want a part.)  
I want the real thing. (I want all of you.)"  
For a finish, he whispered in the end, "Show me."  
  
I clapped for him as he seriously looked at me. I didn't know what to really say…  
"Time's up," he teased with a smile.  
  
"Chotto!" I laughed as he took the book from me. "I still have to pick a song."  
  
"Random mode!" he announced while pressing something on the box.  
  
I got up with a frown as I looked at him with a pout. Then, I saw my reflection at the window.  
That young woman that resembled Hokuto-chan…  
  
And wasn't me at all, stared back at me.  
I got more self-conscious as both I held onto the microphone with both of my hands.  
A young girl with a beautiful kimono.  
  
The gloves were totally out of place.  
The screen finally chose a song called "Crazy". Fortunately, it was familiar. Only because it was one of Hokuto-chan's favorites.   
I blinked at the screen.  
  
Someone was making fun of me.  
  
But Seishirou didn't tease me. He blinked at me in reserved manner as the up-beat song came on. Because she had played this song many times before, I found myself singing the song with ease…  
  
"Love has got me crazy  
So in love I can't see  
Your love is no good for me.  
  
Love has got me dizzy  
So in love I can't see  
That I don't have time  
I don't have time for this  
  
I know the sign  
I'm on your mind  
I know what you're looking for  
But step by step  
Deep in your net  
That my heart won't remember  
You are dangerous  
  
Love has got me crazy  
So in love I can't see  
Your love is no good for me.  
  
Love has got me dizzy  
So in love I can't see  
That I don't have time  
I don't have time for this  
  
You know the sign   
You've lost your mind  
(When) you don't care what people will say  
And step by step  
Caught in your web  
I'm trying to remember  
That you are dangerous  
  
I know the sign   
I'm on your mind  
I know what you're looking for  
But step by step  
(So) deep in your net  
That my heart won't remember   
That you are dangerous  
  
Love has got me crazy  
So in love I can't see  
Your love is no good for me.  
  
Love has got me dizzy   
So in love I can't see  
That I don't have time  
I don't have time for this."  
I finished as I stared at the screen, at the microphone, and then at Seishirou-san.  
Maybe it wasn't coincidence that sang this song to him…  
  
"Has it made you crazy?" he asked me as I found myself stepping backwards away from him.  
  
"Maybe," I honestly answered as we looked at each other while the screen played the next song that he had selected. Shinya's "Kimi ni" began to play:  
  
"While the rain was pouring, I thought of you.  
You were whispering to me.  
I looked around and you disappeared,  
But I still can hear your voice.  
'Why did you do it? What were you thinking?'  
I told the boy when he asked me,  
'I'll never come again.'  
  
Never looking back at him,  
It's a world that has separated us,  
We've got to go back to reality.  
Pushing the crowd of people,  
I knew what you were wondering,  
'Why did we ever fall for one another  
when it was destined to fall apart?'…"  
"You don't want me here, don't you?" he finally asked me.  
  
"While we were in the hotel room…" I asked him, "What would you have done if I told you to go away and never bother me again, Seishirou-san?"  
  
Without blinking, he answered without hesitation, "I would leave."  
  
My heart fell as I felt a look of disappointment encompass my face.  
I knew it. I don't blame you…  
  
You wouldn't fight for-  
  
"And I would come back over and over until you accept me again," he finished.  
  
"Why are you so persistent?" I asked, trying to put these two concepts of him trying to be with me while I pushed him away because of my own insecurities towards people and myself. "You'd have an easier time being in love with someone else."  
  
Someone who is 'normal'…  
…but I was too much of a coward to express this thought to him.  
  
"I'll keep on watching from behind that tree." He said as he got up. "Like always."  
  
I took a deep breath as the words pierced inside of my heart. And I realized their true intent.  
  
It was then that he left me watching as he closed the door behind him as 'Kimi ni' finished with,   
  
"You never looked back at me again.  
It's this world that has separated us,  
We've got to go back to where we come from.  
Pushing through the crowd of people,  
You knew what I was saying,  
'It's easier to kill yourself   
than for me to tell you what I did.'  
  
Don't believe  
In what you see.  
(We've got to go back to reality.)  
  
Everywhere you look  
They'll tell you sweet lies.  
(See through mine.)  
  
Don't believe   
In what you see.  
(We've got to go back to reality.)"  
Tsuzuku…/To be continued…  
  
--  
Author's note: I know this is a weird chapter, but I've been trying to take their relationship from a different perspective. I want to capture the feel of Subaru being more vulnerable, because in the manga, you see what's going on, but only have glimpses of how he thought about many things pertaining to himself.  
Also, I'm trying to capture the feel of Seishirou being truly sincere, yet acting as he does towards Subaru. This will be quite hard for me since I sincerely think he loves Subaru.  
Hatsu no kai – first love  
Shigoto – job  
Kimi ni – to you. 


	5. Part 5

Disclaimer: Yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon, but that doesn't mean she can't mess with the characters.  
  
Calendar Boy  
By Miyamoto Yui  
Part 5 - mistakes written in blood.  
  
The door closed behind him as the song ended with my silence echoing louder than any karaoke machine at that moment. I looked at my hands, and then at the screen.  
  
Would it be too late to run after him...  
  
Stupid, Subaru.  
You wouldn't do this for anyone else!  
  
I found myself opening the door and running out with the click-clack of my slippers. But, so many things were crowding my ears that when a door opened, I shouted, "Sumi..."  
  
"...masen!" I finished as I found myself on top of a blond, young man who looked up at me with swirly eyes. "Ano ne..." the blond said.  
  
"I'm so sorry!" I bowed my head with his hands still on the sides of the young boy's head. I blushed as I scrambled to his feet.  
  
I pulled the disoriented boy and looked from side to side as I knocked on the karaoke room the guy had come out of.  
The door opened. A handsome, black-haired boy with glasses looks at me with a grim expression.  
  
"Eep..." I think as I sputtered, "I'm so sorry, but I bumped into your friend because I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."  
  
He lifted up his hand and shook his head. Instead of getting upset, he grunted and muttered, "Figures."  
But with affection in his eyes, he took the blond into his care and said, "Thanks."  
  
I bowed my head and left them.  
As I paid the woman in the front, I looked at my gloves again. "That black-haired boy's hands are special too..."  
  
"Here is your change. Please have a good night," the girl said behind the counter.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Come back again!" she said as I bowed my head and left.  
  
As I got to one corner, nothing but the click clack of my slippers could be heard. Or rather, that was all that I wanted to pay attention to.  
  
"Where did you go, Seishirou-san?" I mumbled worriedly to myself.  
  
"Don't you ever stoop to a pathetic woman's style!" Hokuto had shouted at me once. "You must have the person run after you, but not you after them!"  
  
This is different...isn't it?  
That's what I wanted to learn. And that's what I wanted to believe.  
  
I had decide if it was all true.  
He had to tell me if it could be.  
  
I sighed as I found my reflection running inconsistently through windows of shops, not caring that I was a strange boy running around destructive Tokyo. At an hour that wasn't so friendly, especially to me.  
  
The stillness and chaos of the night made me apprehensive.  
  
Anyone would have given up, but I found myself pursuing someone that I had broken because of my insecurity.  
Did he truly believe in what he said to me?  
  
I couldn't look at him whenever he did that.  
I was ashamed.  
  
"Seishirou-san..." I trailed off as I huffed and puffed through the lights trying to avoid being targeted.  
  
It would be rude of me to say that I had never been approached before...  
But it seemed that the appeal of Hokuto's beautiful kimono was making people crazy as they looked at me with hungry eyes.  
Some drunk, some not.  
  
I would have never known this look...  
...but he looked at me that way.  
  
As if I had no abnormalities...  
That we weren't both men...  
That the odds weren't against us...  
That was a part of me that Seishirou had in my heart.  
All figured out in a night of running and bumping into things...  
  
Accidentally or not...  
I found myself in front of his clinic to find it lit. As I was about to knock on the door, it opened before me and there was Seishirou smiling at me.  
  
I sat in my usual seat as he had his back towards me while trying to make coffee. "How did you end up here?" he asked me as I sat silently.  
  
"I just found myself here." I also add in a bittersweet tone, "It must be fate."  
  
I fold my arms and lean my head on the table.  
  
What could I say to him? Especially when he caught me off-guard by smiling at me rather than looking dejected and serious as he had earlier that evening.  
For a moment, I felt more alone that I could have ever felt.  
It was a familiar feeling that I never liked to show or tell anyone. Not even Hokuto-chan herself. She would lecture me, but inwardly scold herself by not being able to help me.  
  
It wasn't her fault.  
I tried to tell her this, but even until she dies, I don't think she'll ever believe me...  
  
Seishirou was silent as I heard him bustle about the room making the coffee and get charts to get in some work. Of course, he has his job too.  
I don't know how he could always just drop everything for me.  
  
I looked up at him and then I found my eyes glazing the floor and finding themselves on the white table before me. I sat in this room with my gloves folded before me as my head was bent down. It looked like as if I were praying. Actually, it was something quite the opposite.  
  
Hokuto must have been worrying about where we are, isn't she? And here I was stuck in the middle of the night with my eyes adjusting to the darkness and back to where there was light, in Seishirou's clinic.  
  
How ironic that must be.  
I had wondered why I always had this type of problem.  
I thought too much. That was why.  
  
There was a feeling locked deep inside of my heart. It was as if it were going to consume me alive and I couldn't do anything but sit here silently while I gulped.  
  
This wasn't the first time I had thought of things that led to things that weren't healthy.  
The only reason I had stopped each time was my sister.  
  
Hokuto was in my way...  
  
I didn't know how she made a barricade, but I think it was my own weakness for her. She had loved me like no other sister for her brother. And for me to reject these feelings would kill her.  
  
She always wanted to feel needed.  
  
I then looked at my gloves. While opening and closing my hands, I lifted them off the table and my eyes became wide.   
"Oh my god..." I mumbled to myself in shock.   
  
When will it ever end?  
And if I ever go, who will take over?  
  
Someone else would take this position of mine. In actuality, someone would be forced again to my position. Out of obligation, I had no choice but to agree.  
Yet, it weighed inside of me.  
  
"Stop worrying so much about others," she keeps on telling me as she holds me as if I were going to break if she let go.  
I always say nothing to her, but look at this face that has the same features as mine.  
  
But I couldn't stop worrying...  
  
There were so many people out there. And I was only one person.  
If there was no one to comfort them, it might as well be me...  
  
Nor would I forget them.  
Even if they forgot me.  
  
I was just a dream to them each time. Someone who passed the time with them and then I was gone since it seemed too strange in the first place.  
  
But where would I go when I needed comfort? There was no one.  
I had already burdened you, Hokuto-chan.  
  
I couldn't ask you to smile for me when I knew you tried to hide your feelings from me. The ones that told me, "I can't tell you, Subaru."  
The same ones I told myself, "If I told you, it would hurt you, Hokuto-chan."  
  
I couldn't tell her that in a midst of people, I was all alone.  
  
Once people knew what you did, they would become scared or interested like little children playing a game.  
I didn't want to be close to people.  
  
I wasn't always shy.  
I was just scared of...of...  
I glanced at Seishirou while my chaotic thoughts were swarming inside my head and my heart. I was scared and out of my honest I immediately grabbed a napkin on the opposite side of me.  
  
"Subaru?" Seishirou asked as he walked towards me with a worried expression.  
  
In my agitated state, I gasped as his shoes tapped upon the floor while coming towards me.  
Tap, tap, tap...  
  
"Don't come near me," I found myself saying.  
I don't know how I looked at moment, but I was shaking.  
  
You are my special one...  
And I don't want you to see me in another light...  
  
He stopped walking as he stood at the opposite side of the room. Calmly, he said, "Subaru? What is wrong?"  
At that moment, I put my gloves in back of me as I shook my head.  
"Please leave me alone," I told him without looking at him. "I shouldn't have come here after all."  
  
"You were right to leave-"  
  
Tap, tap, tap.  
  
"No, Seishirou-san...  
  
He came closer and closer to me. I shook my head as I got up from my seat. "I'll be leaving now. I will talk with you later."  
  
"Subaru...what's wrong?" He asked as he raised his arm and caught mine.  
  
Pulling my arm, his eyes became slits as he saw my gloves...  
  
My hands were dripping blood...  
  
"What were you doing?!" he shouted at me as he pulled me towards the bathroom. "I wouldn't have expected this-"  
  
"No one ever expects anything like this from me…" I trailed off as I sat on the toilet bowl while Seishirou wiped both of my gloves.  
  
I had scraped tried to them...  
Almost as if I was trying to scratch away the mark...  
  
The star that told me that I was running out of time.  
It also reminded me that I wasn't ordinary. I wouldn't ever be able to live life like a normal human being.  
  
"Why?!" he asked me as he pulled my arms with a firm grip. His eyes searched into mine and for the first time, I had gotten him truly upset with me.  
  
I looked at him blankly.   
  
"It was just your birthday a few weeks ago, Subaru," he reminded me as his eyes searched into mine for a reason.   
  
"How do you look at me, Seishirou?" I asked him desparately. "Do you seem me as an omyouji, a human, or a demon?"  
  
"Even you couldn't help her..." that girl's voice kept on taunting. A job that had led me so scarred inside and I couldn't tell anyone because it didn't have such a happy ending.  
  
Tears started to come out of my eyes. "Answer me, Seishirou."  
  
He blinked at me trying to hold his tongue.  
  
"Answer me!" I gripped onto his collar and then searched his eyes again in desparation. Left and right, right and left, my eyes looked at him as my hands found themselves on his cheeks. "Why won't you answer me?"  
  
I started to sob as I let go. Then, I looked away as I was getting up.  
  
He caught my hand as I opened my eyes in surprise. He began to kiss my gloves again, licking away the new blood that began to spill out of me.  
I wanted to pull away, but then, he took me into his arms and sat me upon the table. As he whispered to my ear, "You are the devil for making me question the way I am."  
  
Pulling on my kimono, he kissed my shoulder blade and said, "You are an omnyouji that cares too much about his clients."  
  
The kimono was pulled as it fell on my elbows.  
  
Without shame, he kissed the skin over my heart as he told me, "And I fell in love with this person because of these things."  
  
I blushed as I looked at him. He then pulled me close to him while wrapping his arms around me.   
  
And for a while, we stayed that way with silent words that temporarily eased my mind.  
Tsuzuku...  
--  
Author's note: I am sorry for the month hiatus. I didn't plan on it, but I was working so hard with my graduation and graduate school things as well as teaching and school itself with working.   
The pace will pick up though. I just need the time to invest into my fanfics. That's one thing I can never truly have. Though, I wish not to rush.   
Right now, I was listening to 'Melodies of Life' in English as I wrote the fic. Ah, how much I love beautiful Subaru. His feelings are so fragile and yet I'm trying to bring out a side that couldn't be found in the manga. As to if I am successful in this venture, we'll see.  
Okee, done with this angsty arc and moving onto the comedy!   
Preview:  
  
"Where have you guys been?" Hokuto asked as she shouted at me with her arms on her hips while tapping her foot.  
Then, her angry face became angelic and all smiley when she suddenly hugged me. "Finally Subaru!"  
"Huh?" I blinked at her in confusion.  
When she let go, she pointed at something: Seishirou's collar...with lipstick on it.   
  
I turned bright red as Seishirou smirked with no defense for me.  
  
"B-but it's not what you think!" I protested.  
  
"Say what you want, Subaru." She waved her hand and closed the door behind her while I tried to reach out for her.  
  
"D-demo!" 


	6. Part 6

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon belongs to Clamp. "Breathe your name" is by Sixpence None the Richer and the waitress's dress is modeled after Mana of Malice Mizer.  
  
Calendar Boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 6 - my special one.  
  
"Why did you do that?" Seishirou whispered into my ear while still holding me in his arms.  
  
Ashamed, I whispered quietly, "I don't tell anyone about these things."  
  
"I don't understand you," he told me as he shook his head. "Everything seems plainly normal and then I find myself questioning these things even if they're familiar to me as coming to work everyday."  
  
My heart died a little when he said that.  
  
I want you to understand...  
  
But I can't tell you why...  
  
"There are times that even when I'm surrounded by so many people, I feel so alone," I told him. "I know this doesn't make any sense to you..."  
  
I sighed trying to find words to my distracted thoughts.  
  
Things were coming slow and I wasn't so good with explanations so I had an extra obstacle or two to go over. Why must it hurt so much?  
  
I shook my head. "It won't go away..."  
  
"What won't go away, Subaru?" Seishirou asked me as he pulled away while holding my face but my eyes refused to look into his once more.   
  
"Deep inside of me, there are memories and thoughts that keep on adding." I looked at him at that moment. "They keep on adding inside of my heart, but they bleed invisibly. But I feel my chest cringe more and more as the years go by.  
  
"So many things keep coming back and then I try to forget them temporarily. They just keep on coming back though and with even more force. I don't know how to describe it to you."  
  
He sighed as he closed his eyes while pushing his forehead to mine.  
  
"Sometimes I feel that I'm not myself. I only act like this really nice person because that's expected of me. But I won't deny that I have done things that I'm not proud of." I pulled away and held up my hands to him. "Like this."  
  
Seishirou continued to look at me.  
  
"It would hurt me if you learned to hate me, Seishirou." I blinked my eyes at him with worried eyes while my eyebrows almost touched one another.  
  
I folded my hands on my lap.  
  
He shook his head as he whispered into my ear, "I fear the day you'll hate me."  
  
What?  
  
How could that be?  
  
My eyes opened wide as he pulled away while holding my hands in his. His thumb lightly stroked my gloved fingers.  
  
"Why would I hate you, Seishirou?"  
  
"When you find out I'm not the person you think I am."  
  
We looked at one another seriously and without another word.  
  
My burdened heart made me laugh as I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. Burying myself into his shirt, I mumbled, "Why do we do this to each other?"  
  
"Because I fell in love you," he answered without hesitation.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked him innocently.  
  
Wasn't it me?   
  
Wasn't I the one who made the mistake of being too honest with you?  
  
He didn't say anything as he kissed my forehead. While pulling my waist and helping me stand straight up, he laughed as he winked at me. "If you continue to wear that kimono that way, I'm going to take you here and now."  
  
I blinked at him and blushed as I looked down at myself. Embarrassed, I immediately pulled the kimono over my shoulders again as Seishirou watched me without any sense shame at his voyeurism.  
  
"I thought you wanted me cover myself and you watch me?" I questioned as I walked towards him.  
  
"No no no," he said in English while shaking his head. In Japanese, he teased, "You misunderstand me, Subaru-kun. I just don't want anyone else touching what's mine."  
  
I smirked at him with nothing to say as I blushed even more crimson red.  
  
At that, he pulled me by the hand and led me outside. Turning off the light and locking the door, we left to go back to the hotel...  
  
Or so I thought.  
  
It was already three o'clock in the morning and I looked at Tokyo as if it were something totally foreign to me. There were people sleeping in alleyways with one eye open to keep from being caught loitering.  
  
All these people...  
  
No matter what I do...  
  
How come we must feel so helpless?  
  
"Subaru-kun?" Seishirou asked me as he turned to look at me. "What are you thinking about?"  
  
I shook my head as I smiled at him. "Nothing, Seishirou-san."  
  
He left me alone, but I just couldn't tell him. He led me onward and I looked at his back as we kept on walking.  
  
How do you look at other people, Seishirou-san?   
  
I want to ask you but there's something in the way. My heart feels pained whenever I want to ask you.  
  
The only one you care for is me.  
  
Your eyes tell me this every time.  
  
This also scares me because I can't handle all your attention.  
  
Besides Hokuto, no one sincerely looks at me for myself.  
  
Only as myself...  
  
"I always wanted to take you here," he said as he stopped walking and stopped in front of an unusual café that was named, "Intuition". We walked into it and the atmosphere was very mellow with dark blue and black booths. The curtains were purple while the black walls were somewhat illuminated by a purple light.  
  
A woman dressed in a lacy blue dress with a pale complexion and blue lipstick came to our table. "What would you like to order?" she asked with a slight smile.  
  
"Two tiramisu floats, please," Seishirou said as the girl nodded her head.  
  
I looked at Seishirou curiously. "It's interesting."  
  
He smiled happily at me with his hand folded. "Hokuto's the one who recommended for me to come here. Remember that whole tiramisu thing with her?"  
  
I nodded. I grimaced a bit. "It was kind of scary. She loves sweets and when she finds something she really likes, she'll try to outdo that."  
  
I shook my head recalling that she had tried to make me her victim-er, guinea pig.  
  
"I was so drunk that she said I almost called you to come over to help me." I turned red wondering why the heck I was telling him this.  
  
He chuckled. With a seductive tone, he asked me, "Oh _really_?"  
  
I nodded slowly.  
  
"You make it sound like some aphrodisiac," he joked as I mumbled almost inaudibly, "You never know with Hokuto-chan..eh heh heh..."  
  
He began to sing along with the song on the speakers, which seemed kind of strange considering the gothic type of environment,  
  
"...Is it all inside my head   
  
Is it all inside my head   
  
I view the my lips   
  
And take my pick   
  
I view my faith   
  
And make a choice   
  
'Cause it's nobody else's but mine..."  
  
Then, he looked at me while hitting me gently on the head. "Dame."  
  
"What?" I gave him a weird look. "What did I do wrong?"  
  
"Put your hands on your lap and look at me," he instructed as he continued, "I have to train you before that...date...of yours."  
  
I blinked at him as I began to laugh as our drinks came. I bowed my head in thanks and looked at Seishirou again.   
  
"You almost sound jealous," I nervously said as I tried to joke while taking the drink into my hands.   
  
"I am," he said matter-of-factly while taking a sip of his drink through the straw.  
  
Looking out the window, I avoided his gaze. With a low voice, I began to swirl my drink unnecessarily. "You've probably gone on many dates with people. That's why you're 'training' me to be a girl."  
  
"I don't deny that I've dated a few people," he said as he looked out the window too.  
  
I was a little jealous at this.  
  
"But it doesn't matter," Seishirou continued as he took another sip of his drink. "There were only two people I've cared for..."  
  
I glanced at him for moment.  
  
"She was older than I was, but she looked as if she was younger than I was." He began to laugh at the thought. "She and her kimonos..."  
  
I continued to stare out the window while clearly hearing him over the music.  
  
"Then, she died. There was nothing I could do about it," he smiled as his eyes looked at the table with sigh. "That's just how life was. It was ironic that she was such a jealous person..."  
  
"Seishirou-san..." I started to say as I looked at him while he looked up to watch me.  
  
"Then, years later, I met a boy. I met you."  
  
I became silent as I felt my heart cringe.  
  
Why did this feel so wrong?  
  
---  
  
We finished our drinks in silence and then soon left the café. When we were walking towards the hotel, Seishirou looked up to the sky and laughed, "You drove me crazy since the first time I saw you."  
  
"I was pretty dumb." I shook my head in shame. "I can't believe I fell at the station."  
  
He shook his head as he took my head once again while not looking at me. "No, from before then."  
  
"Hmm?" I asked as the wind blew around us at that particular moment. "What did you say, Seishirou-san?"  
  
He said nothing else and we got back to our hotel. When were opening our door, there was Hokuto gave us the look of death while being unable to shout at us because it was already five in the morning.  
  
"Where have you guys been?" Hokuto asked as she shouted at me with her arms on her hips while tapping her foot.  
  
Then, her angry face became angelic and all smiley when she suddenly hugged me. "Finally Subaru!"  
  
"Huh?" I blinked at her in confusion.  
  
When she let go, she pointed at something: Seishirou's collar...with lipstick on it.   
  
I turned bright red as Seishirou smirked with no defense for me.  
  
"B-but it's not what you think!" I protested.  
  
"Say what you want, Subaru." She waved her hand and closed the door behind her while I tried to reach out for her.  
  
"D-demo!" I protested as I hung my head in defeat.   
  
As we went into our room, I poked him on the arm. "How come you didn't say anything?"  
  
"It's more fun that way?" He smirked and I went towards the closet to get my pajamas.  
  
As I turned around, he pulled me closer to him by my sash. Then, the sash came off. I covered myself by trying to keep the kimono over my body. "What are you doing?"  
  
"Helping you out of the kimono?" he said as he turned around and took off his own shirt. I changed into my pjs hesitantly as I found myself watching him through the mirror.   
  
His eyes found mine.  
  
"The feeling is mutual," he told me seriously.   
  
As I pulled some notes onto my bed, he sat on his bed while setting the alarm clock between us. He turned to me. "What are you doing? You should be sleeping."  
  
"I have to figure out what I'm going to ask later on that 'date'," I said while browsing over the papers faxed over by my grandmother.  
  
"Please relax more!" he scolded me as he got up, filed my papers and put them on top of the bed stand.   
  
I blinked at him as he sat on my bed while watching me. He took off his glasses and put them on the stand too.   
  
Leaning forward, he kissed me.  
  
"Good night."  
  
Then, he got up, turned off the lights, and went into bed. I looked over at his direction while my eyes were adjusting to the darkness.  
  
I smiled at him.  
  
"Achoo!" I sneezed as I got into my covers.  
  
"Bless you," he answered back.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Silence.  
  
I looked over at his direction and smiled even more.  
  
"Thank you," my voiceless lips said as I drifted off to sleep with my blinking in his direction.  
  
Yes, you are my special one...  
  
And I don't want you to see me any differently...  
  
You'd break my heart if I found that you hated me...  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
--  
  
Author's note: I'm sorry for the late update, but many things have been happening in my life and I'm kind of mixed up. Thank you for being patient with me.  
  
I've enjoyed this fic so far. I think that this is moving slow, but emotional-wise, it's a range of things that isn't just latent sadness, but understanding it from Subaru's heart. I was so happy when someone said that this fic was kind of explaining his 'change' or 'apathetic' attitude in X wasn't such a shock when taken from this perspective.  
  
I believe that people who have known sadness or love are the ones that learn to be extra kind or bitter...  
  
Okee, so, Winnie, here's your fic. ^_^ 


	7. Part 7

Disclaimer: Yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon. Moonlight Anthem is by Yoko Kanno and sung by Akiko Arai. King of Pain is by Sting and the Police.  
  
Calendar boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 7 - when no one was looking...  
  
Hokuto, why are you singing this song to me?  
  
I looked at her with loneliness in my eyes, but she continued to sing that haunting theme,  
  
"...Anata no soba ni itai   
  
Aa Tatoe moetsukite   
  
Shindemo..."  
  
This song...  
  
Why this song?  
  
I woke up at that moment and opened my eyes to find the alarm clock going off. As I groaned a bit in protest, I turned it off and looked at Seishirou turning over to look back at me.  
  
"Good morning," he said as he smiled at me.  
  
"Good morning back to you," I replied as I closed my eyes to stretch in my bed. I hug the pillow in front of me even more as I feel warm and comfortable in bed.   
  
Unconvincingly, he commented, "We have to get up."  
  
Silence.  
  
Neither of us does anything.  
  
I whined a little. "I'm too comfortable. Mmm..."  
  
Seishirou then got up and pulled the covers from me.  
  
"Hey!" I shouted not at being cold but at Seishirou pulling the covers close over both of us as he settled into the bed next to me. "You really have no shame!"  
  
"Ah, I'm afraid not." He then snuggled close to me as he grabbed my waist and wrapped his arms around me.   
  
I felt his warm body next to mine.   
  
It's so different to be held onto by him in this way...  
  
Then, his left hand settled over my heart as his lips found themselves on my neck while craning his neck to whisper in my ear, "It's warmer this way."  
  
"Sou..." I tiredly answered back.  
  
In a childish voice, he laughed, "Besides, it's lonely over there."  
  
"Geh." Then, I closed my eyes a bit as I felt secure with him sleeping next to me.  
  
I care for you so much...  
  
Why does this feel so wrong?  
  
Even more, why do I keep on trying to fight it?  
  
At that moment, I put my hands over his arms and placed my cheek next to our entangled hands over my heart.   
  
Seishirou began to pull his hand and reached beneath my pajama top. As I whispered, "Ano...Seishirou-san," his hand gently touched my skin.  
  
It didn't feel strange though...  
  
I wanted him to.  
  
He didn't say anything, but as he pulled me to lay on the bed while his knees touched my hips. I looked up into his eyes. He smiled as he leaned forward to begin kissing me.  
  
BAM! BAM! BAM!  
  
I opened my eyes as Seishirou pulled away from me.  
  
"It's time to go! And there's been a change of plans!" Hokuto shouted from outside as Seishirou rolled over to one side hitting his forehead with his palm.  
  
I walked over to the door while Seishirou went to the closet.  
  
Hokuto burst into the room as soon as I opened it. "Ohaiyo!!!" she greeted happily as she hugged me.   
  
"Good morning, Onee-chan," I laughed as Seishirou greeted her back with a nod and a grin.  
  
I then asked, "What's this about a change in plans?"  
  
"You're wearing the kimono and having that date tomorrow." She then grinned from ear to ear while holding out a new shopping bag in front of me with her two hands.  
  
Not good.  
  
I blinked at her. "What did you put in here?"  
  
"What you need for today." She didn't even blink an eye at me.  
  
I blinked more at her as I glanced over at Seishirou who was coming over to us. "I like that look on your face, Hokuto-chan," Seishirou chuckled.  
  
"I don't," I said as I looked back at Hokuto with an eyebrow up.   
  
She then pushed me into the bathroom. "C'mon. We don't have time for you to gawk every time you have a new outfit."  
  
"It's what you have me wear that scares me," I told her as the tiles of the bathroom echoed my protest to her.   
  
"Tough," she pouted as she closed the door.  
  
She and Seishirou began to talk to one another and then there was silence.  
  
I took the new outfit out and sighed at myself in the mirror...  
  
I stood in the intersection of a busy street with my hair flying in every which direction, but with enough mousse to keep it in place. I had shades and wore tight vinyl pants, boots, and a black tank top.  
  
In my nervousness at the people looking at me while Seishirou smirking at me and Hokuto commenting on how cute I was and that she was a genius, I took off the shades and bit on one of the tips.   
  
Even more people blushed at me.  
  
I blushed back.  
  
I turned my head to Seishirou and I felt the tiny cross hanging temporarily from my ear brush against my cheek.   
  
"Why are people staring at me?" I innocently asked them as we walked across the street to get to the studio.  
  
[Author: * drool * "Damn...such innocence..."]  
  
I know I looked strange, but people didn't have to stare at me.  
  
It was then that I felt more self-conscious than usual. I always had trouble showing people my gloves without feeling any type of shame for them. For with every changing season, there they would remain covering my hands: indifferent to everything because they were inanimate.  
  
They were directly connected to my heart, though.  
  
We got to the studio and I was shoved into one of the rooms for the make-up artist to put foundation on my face and enough make up to protect me from all the lights on the soundstage.  
  
While Hokuto and Seishirou went 'surveying' the studio for clues of the last boy who had gone through this whole process, I was still in my chair with my eyes closed for the make-up artist to put some light hints of eyeliner to bring out 'the emerald of my eyes' as he said.  
  
"Oh, I'm looking so forward to hearing you sing," he told me as he put something on my lap.  
  
"What?" I blurted out as I opened my eyes while staring at him. I looked at the sheets of paper and scanned through them. "This song..."  
  
I looked at him and then my eyes became slits for a second. "Hokuto did this, didn't she?"  
  
"We told you that you needed a song, didn't we?" the make-up artist asked while putting the light pink lipstick (it was supposed to look natural) with touches of rouge on my lips.  
  
"Yes...but I didn't expect it so soon," I commented as I stared at the lyrics.  
  
I thought I could have gotten out of it...  
  
Why didn't Hokuto tell me that this time?  
  
I sighed as I got out of my seat.  
  
There was a knock on the door and one of the attendants said, "You'll be going up in five minutes after the blond young man."  
  
The make-up artist poked me on the nose. "Don't worry. You'll do fine."  
  
I nodded slowly as he closed the door with a smile. I was standing there in fear of performing a song in front of all these strange.  
  
I couldn't do this in front of Hokuto and Seishirou and these people at this studio expected me to do this?!  
  
I looked at the lyrics again and shook my head.  
  
Hokuto picked this song...  
  
She knows I love it a lot...  
  
As I walked out to find that the blond boy in the middle of recording his song. I silently leaned at the back of the wall, far away from everyone else.  
  
I couldn't see him too well, but there he was wearing a white long-sleeved collar shirt with a white tank top tucked inside of it. His pants were white and baggy and his hair had one bang falling over one eye. At that moment, he held his hands out and shouted the lyrics as if he were in pain.   
  
Curiously, his hands were towards someone in the audience. A dark-haired young man who was quite tall...  
  
"Since you've gone I've been lost without a trace   
  
I dream at night, I can only see your face   
  
I look around, but it's you I can't replace   
  
I feel so cold, and I long for your embrace   
  
I keep crying baby, baby please,   
  
Oh, can't you see   
  
You belong to me?   
  
How my poor heart aches   
  
With every step you take   
  
Every move you make   
  
Every vow you break   
  
Every smile you fake, every claim you stake   
  
I'll be watching you   
  
Every move you make, every step you take   
  
I'll be watching you   
  
I'll be watching you..."  
  
As he exited through the far corner of the room, I still couldn't see their faces, but there was that feeling of having them before.  
  
Trying not to get too distracted by this thought, I walked up to the attendant that had called me earlier. As they were changing the set behind me to some stage with a white backdrop and a black, shiny floor, I shivered as Hokuto waved at me with a happy face.  
  
Seishirou tilted his head at me and smiled at me while leaning one wall with his arms folded. A look of amusement again encroached his face.  
  
I took the mic in front of me as the director gave me directions on what to do for the recording. I didn't believe if I could truly do this, but I loved this song so much...  
  
Maybe it would give me luck.  
  
I know this song in and out...  
  
It was a part of me that I never really wanted to show anyone, like making my hands bleed red over the scars that looked like perfectly scarred stars upon them.  
  
I was more scared of being too honest...  
  
Of how I sang this song to myself when no one was looking at me...  
  
"Sing it the way you feel most comfortable," the director said calmly. "It'll be easier this way."  
  
I held the mic as the song started while tapping my foot. Nodding my head a bit with the beat. I then opened my eyes and looked at the camera with a serious look while singing,  
  
"There's a little black spot on the sun today   
  
It's the same old thing as yesterday."  
  
I looked away and then I sang again with my eyes closed,  
  
"There's a black hat caught in a high tree top   
  
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop"  
  
I then snapped my fingers with the light beat and continued,  
  
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain   
  
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain   
  
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign   
  
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"   
  
I stopped snapping and pointed my hands towards the ceiling while shaking my head a bit.   
  
"There's a little black spot on the sun today   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
It's the same old thing as yesterday   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a black hat caught in a high tree top   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a flag pole rag and the wind won't stop   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
Suddenly, I put both of my hands on the stand with my foot tapping again to the tempo. My eyes closed in pain as my voice became powerfully strong.  
  
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain   
  
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain   
  
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign   
  
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"   
  
I looked around the stage from person to person as if I were truly lost. It didn't take too much acting though...  
  
"There's a fossil that's trapped in a high cliff wall   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a dead salmon frozen in a waterfall   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a blue whale beached by a springtide's ebb   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a butterfly trapped in a spider's web   
  
That's my soul up there"   
  
Holding my hands out, I found myself looking straight at Seishirou while loudly singing to him,  
  
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain   
  
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain   
  
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign   
  
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"  
  
I covered my left hand with my gloved right hand as I kept on looking at Seishirou.  
  
"There's a king on a throne with his eyes torn out   
  
There's a blind man looking for a shadow of doubt   
  
There's a rich man sleeping on a golden bed   
  
There's a skeleton choking on a crust of bread   
  
King of pain"  
  
I kept one hand on the stand and tapped my foot again. Then, I looked up and shook my head while closing my eyes as if couldn't breathe, trying to sing while almost touching my lips to the mic.  
  
"There's a red fox torn by a huntsman's pack   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a black winged gull with a broken back   
  
That's my soul up there   
  
There's a little black spot on the sun today   
  
It's the same old thing as yesterday"  
  
This time, I looked at Seishirou with sorrowful eyes while holding my hands out to him. I wanted to catch myself and him in this moment to make him understand me.  
  
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain   
  
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain   
  
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign   
  
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain"   
  
Holding onto the mic stand, I thought, "Please understand me."  
  
I then sang with all my might,  
  
"King of pain   
  
King of pain   
  
King of pain   
  
I'll always be king of pain  
  
I'll always be king of pain  
  
I'll always be king of pain  
  
I'll always be king of pain  
  
I'll always be king of pain"  
  
Then, I whispered as I opened my eyes to look at Seishirou's face once more,  
  
"I'll always be king of pain."  
  
I put my head down and the song ended with it.  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Man, I love this song. It was so perfect!  
  
"Anata no soba ni itai, Aa Tatoe moetsukite, Shindemo..." à This means "I want to be near you, if for example, I burn out of life and die. 


	8. Part 8

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon belongs to the awesome Clamp. I'm just in love with the characters and I hope it shows! "Don't Stand So Close To Me" is by the Police.  
  
Calendar Boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 8 – when you're next to me…  
  
"Great!" the director told me as I smiled sheepishly with all the lights turned back on.  
  
I bowed my head and blushed with the cross brushing on my cheek like Hokuto poking on my side whenever she teased me. (Or rather, it was to point out how much more I needed to eat.)  
  
The director went over to me and put his arm over my shoulder. "Perfect!" he commented while looking at me from head to toe.  
  
I didn't know if he was talking about the recording or about me…  
  
"A-arigatou…" I answered back politely.  
  
Let's just think it was the recording. I sweatdropped.  
  
"Please wait in your room while we set up for one more song. K-san is going to record another song too, so it'll be a while." He smiled at me and then patted my back.  
  
Seishirou and Hokuto came up to us at that moment. It was Seishirou who cleared his throat to let us know they were there.  
  
Passing by, he smiled at the director, bowed his head, and took my hand firmly into his. "Do you always cater personally to your models?"  
  
The director demurely replied, "We give them the best services we can."  
  
"I bet you do," Seishirou chuckled with his eyes closed and left (still holding my hand, of course) as Hokuto walked in back of me.   
  
I looked back and blinked at the director as Seishirou gave me a sideglance. I couldn't read it though.  
  
Was he jealous?  
  
Awful as it was, I wanted to hope for that just a little.  
  
When we got back 'my' room, Hokuto closed the door behind her and laughed so hard that she couldn't breathe when she sat on the ground.   
  
"Go Sei-chan!" she cheered with her hand in the air.   
  
"Why are you laughing, Hokuto-chan? I…I don't get it." I looked at both of them, but they wouldn't answer me.  
  
"Whatever are you talking about?" Seishirou said with a smug expression.  
  
I sweatdropped as I tapped him on the shoulder. "Um, excuse me, but you're still holding my hand."   
  
With that, he pulled me and dipped me.   
  
"Woo-hoo! You're really racking up the points today!" Hokuto-chan shouted with a big smile as she still sat on the ground.  
  
I turned my head to look at her carefully. "Stop supporting him and help me! Please?"  
  
She shook her head. "If I don't cheer him on, you certainly will get nowhere."  
  
Seishirou cupped my cheeks gently with one hand to steer my head so that I would look at him. He was so close that I felt his breath on my neck as he looked down at me.  
  
Damn…  
  
Those eyes…  
  
"You shouldn't look elsewhere, Subaru-kun," he told me. "I'm already envious of Hokuto-chan having most of your attention most of the time."  
  
I blushed as he said this. "You're not serious," I laughed. "Eh heh heh…"  
  
Hokuto jumped like a rabbit in front of us. She looked at Seishirou, who was grinning at her. Then she looked at me. "I think he's serious, Subaru."  
  
I closed my eyes and turned my head towards her again. "I know! Must you point this out to me?"  
  
"But you asked me and I answered." Hokuto blinked at me without laughing.  
  
In frustration, I replied, "Sometimes what I say is rhetorical?"   
  
"No, it isn't."  
  
"This isn't the time or place to discuss this!" I then turned to Seishirou. "Seishirou-san, um…"  
  
His eyes always make me melt whenever he looks at me so intensely…  
  
"Just go with the mood guys!" Hokuto then got up, grabbed her bag, and walked out the door. "I'll be back in ten minutes to dress you both up."  
  
Eep!  
  
How come that sounded really sexual?!  
  
Oh no! They're converting me to their sick way of thinking!  
  
I blinked at her and pleaded to her with my eyes. "Why do you always do this to me?" my eyes told her.  
  
"Because I love you," her wink answered back.  
  
With another wink to Seishirou before closing the door, she said, "That's more than enough time for you, right?"  
  
Seishirou laughed. "I don't know."  
  
Click.  
  
The door closed and we looked at one another.  
  
"I don't know if that's enough time." At that moment, he picked me up and laid me on the couch. "And you know why?"  
  
"Wh-why?" I asked him as I grabbed his arms to push him lightly in protest.  
  
"Because you were so sexy when you were singing. And if you make me wait any longer, I'm going to devour you. I don't think I can wait until we go back to the hotel."  
  
I gulped as I felt his hand go up my shirt again. "Seishirou-san?"  
  
"God, you're so cute when you're panicking." He laughed as he pulled his hand away. As he looked down at me, he laid his head on my shoulder while whispering to my ear. Seriously, he asked, "Is that really one of your favorite songs?"  
  
I wrapped my arms around his shoulders. I nodded as I whispered quietly,   
  
"I have stood here before inside the pouring rain  
  
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain  
  
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign  
  
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain."  
  
"You sang very well today," he complimented me.   
  
"So what are you going to do about it?" I blurted out as I hugged him harder.  
  
"You never had to ask," Seishirou replied with a smile. "You never had to ask…"  
  
At that, he pressed his lips on my cheek. As he got up, he pulled me up too.  
  
I then looked around the room. "This was that boy's room."  
  
With just that comment alone, we started to look around the room for anything to solve the case. As I opened the closet, there were a number of costumes. However, there was a business card sticking out of one of the pair of ripped jeans.  
  
"I didn't find anything," Seishirou said as he walked towards me.  
  
I didn't say anything as I read the note: "If you ever need me, call me. – Yuki"  
  
I showed the card to Seishirou, but his eyes narrowed.  
  
"What's wrong, Seishirou-san?"  
  
He shook his head. "The handwriting's strangely familiar."  
  
I turned over the card. "Tanaka Yuki."  
  
"Is that a girl's or boy's name?" I pondered aloud.  
  
"A boy's…" Seishirou answered without hesitation.  
  
I put the card away and Hokuto knocked on the door at that moment. When she came in, she was so disappointed with me. "Subaru!"  
  
I sighed and we were getting ready for the next recording.  
  
"But why are you changing too, Seishirou-san?" I said as I was going into the bathroom.  
  
"I like the Police too." He winked at me with a grin. "Just act on your instinct as you did with the other song and we'll do just fine…"  
  
My stomach flipped.  
  
Not good.  
  
"I don't like the way you're looking at me," I told him as I went into the bathroom and closed the door.  
  
"If anyone else looks at you this way, that's when you should be bothered," he told me.  
  
I then opened the door and stuck out my head. "But doesn't that mean I've lost my 'effect' on other people?"  
  
"Subaru-kun?" He blinked at me in shock.  
  
"I've got to tease _you_ once in a while." Then, I winked at him and went into the bathroom.  
  
"I'm so proud of you, Subaru!" Hokuto shouted. I could so see her sitting on the couch with her arms folded and nodding to herself.  
  
As I was temporarily leaving to get something to drink, I tilted my head towards Hokuto and whispered, "I've got to look around. Laugh loudly if you need me."  
  
She stuck her thumb up. "Okay!"  
  
Closing the door behind me, I walked around the long way to get to the private lounge.   
  
I kept on touching the walls on the way there.  
  
"No…not here either," I said with frustration while looking around so that no one would look at me suspiciously. I also looked out for cameras in the hallways.  
  
"Here?" I looked at this exit door as someone opened the door.  
  
"Hey!" the blond boy shouted at me with his finger pointing at me. "You were the one that bumped into me at the karaoke place!"  
  
"I'm really sorry about that!" I blinked at him. "Hello again?"  
  
"Why were you touching the door?" he asked me suspiciously.  
  
"How did you know?" I asked him.  
  
"Your aura…" he answered.  
  
"You're also a medium?" I asked him while looking at him straight in the eye.  
  
"You could say that…"  
  
"What's your name?" I asked him.  
  
"Kazahaya." He plainly answered.  
  
"Your last name?" I bowed a bit forward. "I'm Sumeragi Subaru."  
  
His eyes opened wide. "Sumeragi?!"   
  
"K-san! Please report to studio 12."  
  
He then bowed his head forward. "I'm sorry but I have to leave."  
  
But before he left, he held my shoulder and whispered while passing me. "We'll talk later."  
  
"Ee…" I answered while looking after him.  
  
I then went to the refreshments and got myself a coke. "He's no ordinary medium if he knows my name…"  
  
"You'll be going up with Sakurazuka-san in an hour," the director said as he came up next to me.   
  
"Yes, so I've been told." I took a sip of my can, but a little had slipped onto my neck.  
  
["Damn, it's really hot in here!"]  
  
I wiped it away with a napkin as the director looked at me.  
  
"I'm looking forward to it." He then smiled and turned around to leave the room.  
  
I went back to the room and Seishirou was now gone.  
  
"Where did Seishirou-san go?" I asked Hokuto as she shoved another bag into my hands.  
  
"He's looking around," she simply told me.  
  
In the bathroom, I changed into the outfit she had given me. My head dropped as I sighed. She was having way too much fun on my behalf.   
  
Then, I looked at my reflection again.   
  
Maybe this wasn't so bad…  
  
It was actually kind of cute…  
  
But if I thought this way, I wonder what Seishirou would say. I then sighed again…  
  
Hours later, we took the final copy back to the hotel.   
  
While we were gone, a tv with an attached vcr was put into our room. After changing into more comfortable clothes (and numerous pokings of my stomach by Hokuto), we sat on Seishirou's bed to watch the music video with Seishirou and myself…  
  
And Hokuto had a hell of a time laughing at me when I couldn't be 'seductive' enough. Ack! It was so embarrassing, I can't believe I did it!  
  
I sweatdropped as the song was beginning…  
  
Seishirou was on the black stage and pushing up his glasses while tapping his foot.  
  
Then, the scene changed to a classroom setting. Everyone was wearing school uniforms, but I was wearing a tight, red turtleneck with a zipper going across my collar bone. The bottom of the shirt was ripped like a midriff so my stomach was showing.  
  
[* blink, blink * "Su-subaru's flat stomach?" * turns red *]  
  
My pants are black khakis that look almost like cargo pants that if you pulled on the zippers, they could turn into shorts.  
  
Seishirou walks into the classroom with a blue suit and tie while singing,  
  
"Young teacher the student  
  
Of schoolgirl fantasy"  
  
The camera pans to me. I'm sitting in my desk tapping my pencil with my right hand to the beat with my chin resting on my left palm. I give him a serious look and tilt my head a bit trying to tease him. I sing while eyeing him,  
  
"She wants him so badly  
  
Knows what she wants to be."  
  
I then turn to one side and cross my legs. Seishirou sings while I bite on the eraser of the pencil,  
  
"Inside her there's longing  
  
This girl's an open page  
  
Book marking she's so close now  
  
This girl is half his age."  
  
Seishirou's again on the dark stage, but he's holding onto the microphone stand. With a smile, he keeps on shaking his head.  
  
"Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me"  
  
It's the classroom scene again and it's raining. There are girls talking while looking at me with mean eyes. I just happily give the papers 'sensei' has told me to fetch for him.  
  
"Her friends are so jealous   
  
You know how bad girls get  
  
Sometimes it's not so easy  
  
To be the teacher's pet"  
  
In a lonely bus stop, it's raining. I'm leaning on the pole with my arms folded.  
  
The camera has a close up of my lips singing, "Temptation, frustration."  
  
Seishirou is now driving up in a car while watching me. I'm dripping wet and I smile at him as his car stops with a door opening to let me in.  
  
"So bad it makes him cry  
  
Wet bus stop, she's waiting  
  
His car is warm and dry"  
  
Again, Seishirou is closing his eyes while tapping his feet on the floor. He's wearing jeans and a loose white buttoned blouse while holding onto the microphone stand. He smirks as I walk by.  
  
"Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me"  
  
There is shot of the classroom and then the teacher's lounge. I'm missing and Seishirou starts to sing,  
  
"Loose talk in the classroom   
  
To hurt they try and try  
  
Strong words in the staffroom  
  
The accusations fly"  
  
I walk into the class and give him a knowing smile as he picks up a handkerchief from his jacket pocket.  
  
"It's no use  
  
He sees her  
  
He starts to shake and cough  
  
Just like the old man in  
  
That book by Nabokov."  
  
In a room with a spotlight on Seishirou, he's sitting in a chair. My gloves come from the darkness and then I slowly come out of the darkness. I whisper into his ear with my eyes closed as I blushed while wrapping my arms around his shoulders.  
  
He sings until the end while looking at me,  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me  
  
[instrumental]  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me  
  
Don't stand   
  
Don't stand so  
  
Don't stand so close to me…"  
  
I slapped my palm on my forehead with my cheeks burning redder than ever. "I can't believe I did that. This should be burned."  
  
"This was so cute though, Subaru!" Hokuto smiled.  
  
"Now why can't you do these things to me off-camera?" Seishirou winked at me.  
  
"Sei-seishirou-san!" I stammered. Trying to change the subject, I blinked at the video. "I kind of liked the outfit, though."  
  
"Sei-chan picked it," Hokuto said as she hugged her knees with a small pout. In a split second, she smiled again as she looked at me. She then got up and waved her hand. "Good night!"  
  
"Hokuto-chan…" I mumbled while the door clicked shut.  
  
Seishirou then looked at me. "Would you believe that's how I always feel whenever you're next to me?"  
  
"Me?!" I squeaked in surprise. "I don't do anything!"  
  
"You're a cruel, cruel boy, Subaru-kun…" he told me as he laughed as he pulled me to tickle me on my ribs.  
  
I laughed so hard that I was lying on his bed while looking up at him and tears were coming out of my eyes. "You're the one * laugh, laugh * tickling me to death * laugh, laugh * and you call me cruel?"  
  
"You tricked me." He told me while smiling down at me.  
  
"Huh?" I coughed.  
  
He rubbed my chest while still looking at me with a smile.  
  
Running his fingers through my hair, he laughed with his eyes closed. "I thought you were a girl…"  
  
"I don't get it…"  
  
"You don't have to." It was then that he tickled me again and I laughed and laughed.  
  
"Your cheeks were as pink as a sakura petal …that's why I thought you were a girl…" he told me while still tickling me.  
  
I didn't understand, but I couldn't think too much about it as he made me laugh. I hadn't laughed so much since I was a child…  
  
He commented, "I'll always love the way you laugh."  
  
I smiled up at him.  
  
"And I love the way you smile at me…"   
  
I want you to always look this lovingly at me, Seishirou…  
  
Owari…  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Gosh, it's hard to think of things after I put a lot into You Drive Me Crazy. But then again, one must never run out of fanservice ideas! I am a fangirl, after all. ^____^ Hee hee.  
  
And so, the fun begins…  
  
Please excuse the excess of music. I love songs and as I've stated with Gravitation fics, singing is like breathing to me. It is so much a part of me that silence unnerves me sometimes. Plus, I thought this would be a perfect opportunity for Seishirou to make a debut too! (Koyasu Takehito-sama WAS his seiyuu after all. * drool, drool * Yes, I think that man is totally hot, but Yamaguchi Kappei-sama's still got the sexiest voice alive! Predilection!!!) 


	9. Part 9

Disclaimer: Tokyo Babylon belongs to Clamp and so does Gouhou Drug. "Tokyo Girl" belongs to Ace of Base.  
  
Calendar boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 9 - possessive creature.  
  
After a while, Seishirou was getting ready for bed, but he turned on the television to watch the video again.  
  
I sat on the bed with my pajamas and a ton of papers around me.  
  
"What's all that?" Seishirou asked as he turned his head towards me for a moment.   
  
"All the information about the investigation." I looked at him while holding one of the stapled stacks in one of my hands. "It says that it was an accident, but his mom says it isn't. She's provided all the people involved in the studio and their information as well as where all the photoshoots were. Including whomever he was with, especially who he dated, when, and where."   
  
I sighed as I looked at him feeling a bit overwhelmed. Then, I put the stack down as I thought of what the blond boy had told me.  
  
"What?" Seishirou asked me because I looked at him longingly.  
  
I shook my head, not able to mention the boy for the moment, but told him instead, "There was an exit sign that had a lot of his aura, as if the boy was still lurking there."  
  
Seishirou stopped the video for a moment and began to contemplate along with me. "What's the information you're going to get from that director or whatever?"  
  
"I'm going to see what his schedule is like when he dates his models." I gave him a concerned expression while biting my lip. Then, I finished, "Please go with me to the studio tomorrow night."  
  
"Investigating?"  
  
"I need a look out. I have a map of where all the cameras are, but I need you to let me know what's happening while I'm concentrating on touching the walls. They're so weird over there." I sighed. "It seems like he's the only one who died, but he isn't the only one who's gone through this."  
  
He nodded. "Where did his mom get all this?"  
  
"Private investigator. Most of his whereabouts are unknown even with all this information, it's just a list of things for a few days, but not all the months he stayed. We need to find out why it stopped."  
  
Seishirou nodded his head and watched the video again as I read the last paper of the pile. Shaking my head, I wondered why this piece of paper was even here.  
  
A fascination with mermaids?  
  
Strangely, it was the last note the boy ever wrote:  
  
"Lurking in the depths of the ocean, away from humanity, it is said that mermaids live in solitude. Once in a full moon, one may be walking among men to capture a sailor's eyes that wander upon the ocean. Thinking that illusion couldn't ever become real, the sailors rub their eyes to see no one in the ocean. And yet, the persistent walk among women, walking the streets as if they were one with those that walk with two legs.  
  
Humans want to capture the mermaid and eat its flesh for eternal life,   
  
Only they are mesmerized by their beauty...  
  
...and are eaten instead,  
  
heart first."  
  
Because I had been worn out for the day, I fell asleep as soon as I finished the last sentence.  
  
--  
  
"Grr."  
  
Typically, this would be Hokuto getting annoyed at the alarm clock because beauty sleep was important. Instead, today, it was me who growled to myself as I closed my eyes tightly and put my pillow over my head.   
  
"I love you and all, but just once..." I mumbled to myself as I tried to drown out her singing. "Just once, can't you cook without singing?"  
  
And why can't I ever have some privacy with these two?  
  
I then peeped out of my temporary hideout and looked at the clock before me. "Eight a.m.?"  
  
I blinked and looked at the clock again as it read, "8:01."   
  
As I lifted the pillow off my head, I heard my sister happily singing her theme song by Ace of Base. While cooking eggs on her electric stove, a dank smell of oil permeated through the room.  
  
"Tokyo girl, Tokyo girl  
  
You got the moves to rule the world  
  
That cute inscrutability   
  
Tokyo girl, you're a mystery..."  
  
Shaking my head, I got up and took a hold of the outfit that Hokuto had prepared for the day, before I would change into that kimono. I blinked at it and then leaned forward to inspect it further. Rubbing my thumb and index finger on the blue material, I bit my lip. "So today I wear a sailor suit???"  
  
I stood in front of the mirror and put the outfit next to me while Hokuto smiled.  
  
Sheepishly, I smiled back.  
  
Blue shorts, white shirt with the blue sailor's trademark, and a cap to match?  
  
I looked at the floor to find black penny loafers.  
  
"You've been reading way too much Clamp," I commented, but smiled as I went to the bathroom to take a shower.   
  
As long as Hokuto made it with love, how could I refuse to wear it? Also, what good would protesting do now?  
  
I sweatdropped.  
  
Then again, there was that black vinyl she wanted me to wear, complete with a hat and chains. That was where I drew the line because when Seishirou walked through the threshold saying, "I found the door open so I just came..."  
  
He saw me, who was politely arguing with Hokuto, and adjusted his tie. At first, Seishirou wanted to open his mouth to make some awful comment, but he stopped himself.  
  
His mouth was totally blank, but I could tell his mind wasn't.  
  
"Hmm..." Seishirou said with a contemplative look and rubbed his chin.  
  
"Eh heh heh...Konnichiwa, Seishirou-san," I finally managed to say in embarrassment as Hokuto waved. "Oh hey, Sei-chan! Good timing! Tell Subaru how good he looks!"  
  
"Geh."  
  
I then turned on the shower.  
  
As I took off my pjs, I shook my head. "I wonder what he'll think now."  
  
There was something about Seishirou that I never understood. It was the fact that if I wore an 'adult-type' of outfit or a little kid's, Seishirou would smirk. Really smirk and wouldn't stop flirting with me until he had attempted to steal a kiss behind Hokuto's back. I just couldn't tell Hokuto though, or else I would've been teased even more. That was one of the reasons why I dreaded wearing something that he'd actually like.  
  
The score until now? Seishirou: 7. Me: 3. Didn't count: 1.  
  
Everyone knew I was really terrible with resisting or blocking.  
  
Where'd the 'didn't count' category come from? There was that one time I got drunk to the point that I _forced_ myself on Seishirou while Hokuto was having a date with some synthesizer player. By the time Hokuto came home, before Seishirou could do anything more, (thank god) I had fallen asleep.  
  
That was the day Seishirou found out I could easily get drunk with two glasses of plum wine.  
  
I never drank again, but that never stopped him from trying...  
  
I looked into the mirror and turned red. Until now, I couldn't believe it.  
  
As I stepped in, I slipped with wide-eyes as I tried to catch onto something. "AHHHH!!!!!"  
  
Banging my head on the tiles of the tub, the shampoo, conditioner, and soap came along with me.   
  
For a moment, I blanked out and looked at the water with my head throbbing.  
  
I watched the water flowing, as if in slow motion, and shook my head.  
  
I need water...  
  
I...I don't feel like myself...ugh...  
  
Always with the twin radar being alert, Hokuto immediately stopped cooking and ran over to the bathroom. "SUBARU?!"  
  
Pound, pound, pound!  
  
"SUBARU?! ARE YOU OKAY?!" She shouted as she tried to jam the lock open.   
  
"Uhh..." was the only response I could manage to say.  
  
There was I sitting in the tub filling with water and my head was spinning. I looked around and patted my head, making sure nothing was bleeding, but everything just felt so weird...  
  
"Oww!" I shouted with disoriented eyes and coughed.  
  
"Hokuto..." I started to say, but nothing was coming out. I held onto my throat and then let go.  
  
"SEI-CHAN! HELP ME!" Hokuto shouted outside the door while I heard Seishirou coming back from his clinic.  
  
"What's wrong?" I heard him ask.  
  
"Subaru fell in the tub!" she shouted as I heard a rustling of the door and Seishirou saying, "Calm down."  
  
Hokuto tilted her head. "Why didn't I think of that?"  
  
"Because you were freaking out," Seishirou answered while opening the door.  
  
The shower doors were closed, but Hokuto immediately rushed in and opened the door without discretion or concern for getting wet. As she hugged me, she shook him as she asked, "Are you all right? Tell me you're all right!"  
  
"I..." I started to say, but remembered I couldn't talk.  
  
But for some reason, I felt that even I could, I didn't want to.   
  
Not to her, at least.  
  
I blinked at her as I shook my head with a blank, confused face. I pointed to my green towel and Seishirou gave it to me. Smiling, I naturally wrapped it around my waist while Seishirou stopped the water from overflowing.  
  
I felt so weird, as if I were just responding to everything out of instinct because I was so confused.  
  
Strangely, I didn't want Hokuto to be near me and as I looked at Seishirou, I looked at him desparately.  
  
"Subaru-kun? Let me see your head," Seishirou gently instructed as Hokuto let go of me.  
  
As Seishirou kneeled before me, he took a hold of my head to inspect the bump.  
  
But, at being touched, I also gently took a hold of his face with puzzled eyes. Then, I closed my eyes as I pulled Seishirou's face to kiss him.  
  
Hokuto's eyes looked as if they were going to come out of their sockets while her jaw dropped.  
  
Something inside of me was asking why she was acting that way if she knew we were lovers. And the other part of me, a small voice said, "This isn't the way."  
  
Go on instinct, Subaru...  
  
Seishirou's eyes opened widely in surprise and he pulled away, thinking that he wouldn't be able to breathe if we kissed anymore. I laughed at him, still holding his face. Turning around to Hokuto, he said with a laugh. "Whatever's happening, I like it!"  
  
"Sei-chan!" Hokuto shouted as she swapped the back of his head.  
  
Splash!  
  
Immediately, I possessively hugged Seishirou and pulled him slightly into the tub. Shaking my head, I pouted at my twin.   
  
"Subaru, I'm warning you. If you're trying to get back at me for waking you up, it isn't going to work. You always fail." Hokuto asked as she stood up with a vein looking as if it were going to explode. "Really, what's going on? And please get out of the tub. Now."  
  
Still hugging Seishirou, I pressed my cheek to Seishirou as I took his hand and started to spell out something.   
  
Seishirou started to say, "I can't. I live here."  
  
Hokuto frowned and she grabbed the side of the tub while looking at me at her wits end. "You think you're a fish?"  
  
Her sisterly instincts were starting to explode inside of her. She blinked at me not knowing what to do and looking at Seishirou, who was trying to be calm, but seemed to be happy for me holding him so much.  
  
"I'm not...a fish..." Seishirou said as he read the characters that I was writing on his hand. He looked up at Hokuto. "I'm a mermaid."  
  
Hokuto hung her head. "We've got to get him to a hospital!"  
  
Seishirou shook his head. "I don't think that's such a good idea. From looking at this, he looks fine. And bringing him there will complicate a lot of things. You know he only has a few more days."  
  
They both sighed.  
  
Then, he looked at me.  
  
"We'll just have to wait until this wears off. Just trust me," he said as I hugged him even more.  
  
"What do we do now?" Hokuto asked as she patted my cheek.  
  
I shook my head not wanting to be touched by Hokuto.  
  
"And I can't even touch you. Great!" Hokuto then got up with an upset face. She then sighed as she shook her head. "You're the one good with animals. And you like Subaru..."  
  
She started blinking her eyes while I started to become fascinated with Seishirou's tie and played with it. Losing her cool, she stammered, "D-do something, Sei-chan!"  
  
"I don't deal with humans," Seishirou said with a straight face while I pulled on his tie trying to get his attention.   
  
I didn't want him talking to anyone else...  
  
"Yes, Subaru?" Seishirou turned to me and I looked at him.  
  
The water splashed again, as at that moment, I stole a kiss from him.   
  
Seishirou turned to Hokuto, saying, "I'm still trying to figure out what's so wrong about this arrangement..."  
  
Hokuto shook her head while lifting up an eyebrow. Smiling devilishly, she said, "Well, enjoy it while it lasts. But what are we going to do while he's like that? He's supposed to do a photo shoot and have a date with that director today..."  
  
Seishirou shrugged his shoulders. "We'll find a way."  
  
I pulled on Seishirou's tie again so that he would look at me.   
  
Then, I smiled while poking his nose.   
  
Smiling back at me, he commented to Hokuto like a spoiled child, "Are you _sure_ I can't keep him?"  
  
"Sei-chan!"  
  
Like a child learning to talk again, my voiceless lips said, "No, my Sei."  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Yes, I know, I'm losing it. Or does this mean I'm trying harder to be imaginative? Well, whatever it may be, I needed something funny. Weird, again, is the only way I can describe this.  
  
I know it's an awkward chapter, but please just go along with it. * smile * I'm having fun with it and we need to smile after all the angst of the previous chapters.  
  
Plus, I thought you'd need something to be kawaii'ed out for finals, Winnie the Pooh! ^_^ 


	10. Part 10

Disclaimer: yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon.  
  
Calendar boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 10 – mixed vision.  
  
I could see some of Hokuto's hair stand on end as she put her white gloves on. Then, she covered her face in irritation. "What are we going to do, Sei-chan?"  
  
Seishirou sighed as he looked at me while I smiled at him. "Subaru-kun, can I talk to Hokuto-chan for a minute?"  
  
I shot a suspicious look at Hokuto while holding onto Seishirou protectively. "Mine," my lips read.  
  
Raising an eyebrow, Hokuto looked at me incredulously. "Subaru, you're really pushing it!"  
  
Seishirou just laughed as he covered his mouth to keep from embarrassing Hokuto. Then, he looked at me and said, "I'll only be a moment."  
  
I gave him a frown that said, "You're leaving me all alone?"  
  
Seishirou got up as I slowly let him go. "Aw, don't look at me like that."  
  
Turning to Hokuto, he bit on his finger while teasing, "He's so cute! Are you _sure_ I can't keep him?"  
  
"Sei-chan!" She pulled his ear as they closed my door for a moment.  
  
"Ow! It was only a joke!"  
  
I heard some of their whispers, but I happily smiled to myself while putting my hands back and forth through the water. Washing my face, I closed my eyes while crinkling my nose at the coldness.   
  
A few minutes later, Seishirou and Hokuto came back with a print out of something from the library. By showing me a picture of some legend in which mermaids could have two legs, Hokuto handed me a shell. But, she was at her last straw as she shook her head while I refused to do anything that she wanted. Instead, she said she'd take care of the studio before we got there.   
  
I looked up at Seishirou as he said, "Please listen to me, Subaru-kun. Don't frustrate Hokuto-chan. You know she cares."  
  
I nodded slowly as he said, "Please don't pout. Now, let's get out of the tub."  
  
I shook my head as I held my hands out to him.  
  
At this, he gave me a stern look. "Okay, I'm serious here."  
  
Closing his eyes, he pulled me from the tub while handing me a robe. I wrapped it over myself, but then I laughed as I looked at the outfit I had to wear. I shook my head while hugging him around the waist.  
  
"Seriously, you have to dress up now so that we can go."  
  
I let go of him while going to his bed. I crossed my legs and they were showing through the slit in front of the robe. While leaning my hands back, I smirked at him.  
  
Seishirou took a deep breath as he pulled on his tie. "Sumeragi Subaru. I never thought you had it in you to seduce me."  
  
As he came closer to me, I smiled innocently while blinking up at him. Pulling on his tie, I lay on his bed with the robe loosely over me as he leaned with his hands next to each of my arms. "Subaru-kun, don't tempt me."  
  
"Why?" I mimed as I pulled on his tie more.  
  
"You're not yourself…" he told me, but I pulled him so close that I leaned up to kiss his upper lip.  
  
His eyes closed for a moment as if I had never done that before. Then, he opened his eyes again as he took off his glasses. "Stop that."  
  
I shook my head as I leaned up to kiss him while letting go of his tie and wrapping my arms around his neck to undo the tie while distracting him. He began to smirk as I temporarily let go of his lips while he looked down at me. "You better not blame me for anything."  
  
"For what?" I said my legs and arms began to lock on his body as I carried my weight to pull myself to kiss him. I whispered into his ear with barely any voice, "Sei."  
  
As he was about to take off the tie to my robe…  
  
Knock! Knock! Knock!  
  
I let go as I looked at the door ruthlessly while Seishirou sighed as if in slight relief. "Almost lost my cool there…" he mumbled to himself as he answered the door to have Hokuto shove a bag into his hands. "I'm going now, but this is the new location of the shoot and have him wear all this by the time you get there. Good luck!"  
  
With that, she pushed him back into the room and closed the door for Seishirou. I sat up while looking at him curiously. He opened the bag slowly and looked back at me. "I guess this is the new outfit."  
  
A note slipped out as he brought out a beautiful red kimono with white cranes on it. It said:  
  
"I can't have you wearing something twice. This was the real one I made for you in case I didn't finish in time. –Love, Hokuto."  
  
I began to frown as I looked at the door. "I'm sorry," I wanted to say, but it was too late now.   
  
I will tell her that later then.  
  
Seishirou looked at me and shook his head, but he helped me dress up. It didn't help that laughed while he was fitting it out over my waist or shoulders. Whenever he did that, I'd tap him on the shoulder and smile with a shake of my head.  
  
"I'm not used to you giving me so much affection…" he said honestly. He smiled at me as he tied the obi. "It's kind of nice."  
  
I blinked at him as I held his face with sad eyes that said, "Why would you say that?"  
  
I don't show you enough?  
  
When he began to powder my face, I sneezed and he laughed at me for being so childish. I painted my lips, but as soon as he was finished, he commented, "You look so different."  
  
I closed my eyes as I kissed him on the lips. He began to blush at me as I put my thumb to his red lips.   
  
I reached over to the bag and began to put on the black, long-haired wig while he went to the bathroom to remove the red from his lips. When he stepped out, he said, "Subaru…oh."  
  
He looked at me as if he had seen a ghost.  
  
I looked at him seriously as I folded my hands over my lap. "What's wrong?"  
  
"You look like her." He still stood in his place and couldn't stop staring with shock in his eyes.  
  
Then, he looked down at the ground. "Except for the eyes…yours have innocence."  
  
"Who?" I got up, but then, he looked at me with a slightly scared face as he took one step back. I reached out for his cheek as he looked back at me. Holding my hand, he closed his eyes as if he were in a different time.  
  
"My mother," he answered as he opened his eyes to look at me closely while taking a hold of some hair into his fingers.  
  
I looked past him and at the mirror behind him. I could only see half of my painted face, but my eyes were so confused.  
  
This is what she looked like? But our eyes are different?  
  
But why…  
  
…why does his touch feel from that from a son to a mother?  
  
A chill ran down my spine as I found myself watching him again even though he wasn't looking at me.  
  
He was seeing someone else in my eyes. And I didn't like it…  
  
Seishirou was mine…  
  
But who was this before me?   
  
For a moment, he didn't look so sure of himself. He didn't look so smooth and calm as he had always been. He looked so troubled and I felt helpless for a moment.   
  
This was a Seishirou I wasn't used to…  
  
Tsuzuku…  
  
--  
  
Author's note: I've had Seishirou pine away for Subaru. I've had him as a teen who loved the child Subaru. I've had Seishirou as the sexy bastard that knows everything, esp. in 'you drive me crazy'…but what bothered me was that I needed him to be 'less perfect' and different in this fic. I want to paint a Seishirou that is more human.  
  
Also, after this fic, I'm thinking of a one-moment flashback. Winnie the Pooh wants a cute Su x Sei fic and I promised to make Adri a sweet one too. 


	11. Part 11

Disclaimer: Yui doesn't own Tokyo Babylon.  
  
Calendar boy  
  
By miyamoto yui  
  
Part 11 - Getting to you.   
  
Are these really a son's feelings towards his mother?  
  
I wouldn't have known because I didn't know my mother too well. If there was anyone who resembled a mother-like figure to me, it was my grandmother. All I remembered about my mother was that she was quiet whenever she did meditations. And when she was done doing her exercises, she would spend time alone with Hokuto and they'd talk for hours on end.  
  
But the feeling I had with her was warm and tender. She didn't say much to me. And I didn't understand that until now...  
  
But when I looked at Seishirou, he kind of scared me. He wasn't acting like he usually did and I didn't know what to believe. The person who knew everything at his fingertips or the person who looked shocked right now.  
  
For a moment, he was slipping away from me and I didn't want that.  
  
His eyes looked so blank...  
  
...and when he smiled at me, it wasn't with feeling.  
  
This didn't help my worries at all.  
  
Instead, I shook my head, but he wouldn't let go. In slight jealousy, I took his hands away and threw the wig upon his bed and stepped forward in my kimono. With determined eyes and a pout, I took his face into my hands.  
  
"Look at me," my lips said to him as I drank his eyes with my own.  
  
Look only at me...  
  
I thought this, but I dared not say it aloud.  
  
My head hurt a bit as well as my heart at that moment.  
  
Seishirou looked at me, but he cocked his head to one side as he tried to shrug me off. I shook my head in irritation as my lips moved to mimic the words of, "Don't look away from me."  
  
I pulled his head towards me and whispered to his ear lightly, "Please tell me what's wrong..."  
  
I began to grope his suit jacket with my hands as I wrapped my hands around his shoulders while tippy-toeing. I embraced him with all that I could.   
  
If only I could reach you...  
  
If only I could...  
  
At that moment, he began to push me onto the bed. I laid there under him as he stared at me with his hands to either side of me. I reached for his face and really looked into his eyes. Touching his eyebrows, I blinked as I touched the rest of his face slowly.  
  
My thumbs rubbed his eyebrows, trying to erase the lines forming on his forehead. I concentrated on the way he looked.  
  
Pulling him towards me, I blinked at him. Then, I let the kimono fall off my shoulders as I unbuttoned his shirt.  
  
"Subaru-kun..." he said as if he were in a trance and I closed my eyes in hurt.  
  
He was slipping away from me like sand in an hourglass.  
  
At that moment, I felt like I couldn't take him back.   
  
I ran my fingers through the hair on the back of his neck while holding him tightly. He pressed his lips over my heart and I held him even tighter. Then, I whispered into his ear as best as I could, "I love you."  
  
Seishirou was the one doubting now. He asked me, "Is this how you think when you're holding back from me?"  
  
I just blinked my eyes as I felt a tear fall on his back.   
  
Maybe...  
  
Maybe that's true.  
  
Holding back was only a part of my problem.  
  
How could I show my feelings without being too needy? Was I smothering him right now by trying to physically and mentally pull him towards me because, for once, he was looking away from me?  
  
Yes, I was honestly jealous.   
  
But I'm only human, aren't I?  
  
In the curve of his neck, I gave him a kiss with my lips, which were still lined with red, red lipstick. I grabbed onto him some more and this time, he held onto me like a little kid.   
  
"You're thinking I'm getting all strange about my mother, aren't you?" he chuckled as he tried to shake his head lightly.  
  
He pressed his lips more onto my skin.  
  
"Only two people...only two, Subaru," he drifted off while mumbling his words almost completely into my skin.  
  
Was that the person you were talking about? But why does the girl sound more like a lover than your mother, Seishirou? Is there something that I'm not understanding here?  
  
At that moment, he let go and knelt in front of me. Without a word, he began fixing my kimono all over again and did the makeup. And when we left, I took his hand.   
  
Even though there were people commenting about my kabuki-type of outfit, they were just as gossipy over the red mark I had left on his neck. Wondering and wondering if I was a girl or a boy.  
  
But I never really thought of myself that way.  
  
A girl nor a boy.  
  
I was only faced with that because I was with Hokuto and whatever society told me constituted what a boy was. But a mermaid...  
  
A mermaid could be human or non-human.  
  
That was the only true distinction in that society.   
  
I walked into the studio with my arm a bit tighter with Seishirou's. We were passing by the reception room when I suddenly stopped in front of that 'Exit' door again. I blinked my eyes, trying to catch my breath.   
  
"What's wrong, Subaru-kun?" Seishirou asked as he patted my back, trying to support me.  
  
"We have to come back to this door..." I said as I tried to pull myself away from it.  
  
It was sucking me dry.  
  
My aura was reacting to it more than ever...  
  
We ended up going to another location with a large swimming pool. Hokuto put her arms on her sides as we sat in one of the reserved rooms. "They thought my water idea was good, so we moved here."  
  
She was holding a grudge. Boy, she was still annoyed with me.  
  
Seishirou was sitting on a chair, but I insisted on sitting on his lap. So, there I was lying on his chest with Hokuto still holding up one of her eyebrows. A sudden grin came to her face as she rubbed her chin. "So THAT'S why you guys were a little late."  
  
Then, she pointed at the lipstick on Seishirou's neck, who was only too proud to show off how naughty I could become when the situation arose.   
  
I still didn't know why it was such a big deal though. Shouldn't I entertain Seishirou's advances once in a while?  
  
As Hokuto went out for a bit to get the arrangements ready outside, my crinkled my nose and slid my hand to his waist. Then, as Seishirou was smirking at the look I was giving him, he laughed aloud. "Oh...this is getting _really_ interesting."  
  
I leaned up to his ear and touched it with my lips as I tried to say, "Well, what are you waiting for?"  
  
"Subaru-kun!" he lightly scolded, but it was too late as I took his hand and was about to take a hold of his-  
  
"Okay! Show time!" Hokuto said with a wide grin as she proudly came through the door, while I tried to pretend that I was a bit sleepy, leaning on Seishirou, who was twitching at how many interruptions a morning could give to us.  
  
As I got to the pool, I had to kneel in front of it as my reflection was shot. I was told to smile, then give a serious face.   
  
The flashes were endless, but I looked completely away from the camera because the light was so bright.   
  
The director kept on eyeing me every time I tilted my head forward or back.  
  
Then, for the last shoot, I was told to put my feet into the water. The kimono was barely on the surface of the water and it looked like it was floating. I was supposed to lean on the side of the pool so I felt the cold tile against my face as I stretched out.   
  
I looked up to see Seishirou and I reached out for him.  
  
He was still so far away from me.  
  
Well, I thought it was the last picture until they pulled Seishirou, my 'manager', to stand next to me and make myself out to be a damsel in distress. Shouldn't have been too hard...  
  
Seishirou pulled all of the hair to the front, over my left shoulder and some strands were left on the back. The assistants suggested that I put my hand on his chest and I blushed at him, not really knowing what to do with so many people.  
  
Then, Seishirou pulled on my obi a bit and let the kimono fall on my elbows. Holding me close to him, he closed his eyes and put his head over mine. My profile faced the camera as some of the lipstick got onto his white shirt, as if it were a small drop of blood.  
  
"Relax, Subaru-kun..." he whispered as the assistants became fussy over the minor details of this last picture.  
  
Then, as they were shooting, Seishirou tilted his head to the left. As the kimono hung on my elbows and my back was exposed, he pushed the hair a bit and bent me backwards.  
  
"Seishirou-san...?" I asked with a confused face as he lowered his eyes and he began to kiss me.  
  
But I was upset.  
  
It wasn't me he was kissing...  
  
Hmph.  
  
We'll see about that...  
  
--  
  
When we had finished the photo shoot, I gave him an infuriated look. Stepping away from him, I pulled on my sleeves and left to go back to the temporary room set up for me. When he entered, he looked at me with perplexed eyes behind his glasses. As he closed the door behind him, he said, "Hokuto-chan said we needed to talk. Alone."  
  
"Why would we need to do that?" I sarcastically replied while sitting on one of the chairs. I began to fuss over the kimono, trying to wear it properly before going out on that date with the director.  
  
Sitting next to me, Seishirou folded his hands and sighed. "I don't understand why you're upset all of a sudden."  
  
Immediately, I stopped fumbling with my clothing. I stood up and shook my head.   
  
Turning towards him, I saddled myself on his right leg. Pressing my knee in between his legs, I pulled on his tie to pull him closer to me.   
  
"Subaru...kun?" He gave me a side-glance, but he looked at me not in amusement. He was beginning to smirk at the interesting situation before him.  
  
Leaning forward, I scolded, "You have to know your place."  
  
Biting his earlobe, a single drop of blood fell and I licked it.   
  
With this, I finished, "I will punish you later."  
  
I got up and finished fixing myself as Seishirou looked at me oddly. Then, as he was about to say something, Hokuto came in with the director.  
  
"Hello, Sanada-san," I greeted politely while bowing my head.  
  
He smiled as he nodded his head at Seishirou and me.  
  
"Shall we, Sanada-san?" I followed Sanada-san out like a geisha ready to entertain her paid companion.  
  
Taking one last glance at Seishirou, I then turned away with a my chin up and the red kimono dragging behind me.  
  
With bitterness, I remembered Seishirou's last kiss. He wasn't thinking of me at all...  
  
And that wasn't good...  
  
A mermaid's a possessive creature.  
  
So, you're not supposed to look at _anyone_ else but me.  
  
Mother, death, or whatever wouldn't stop me from getting to you, Seishirou-san...  
  
Tsuzuku...  
  
--  
  
Author's note: Twenty days. It was only twenty days since I last updated this fic and it felt like forever!  
  
But I'm back feeling better than ever, so expect this to move a little more quickly (unless school kills me...again).  
  
See, the super duper sweet Subaru's really mental. Isn't he so cute when he's as possessive as his boyfriend? * wink *  
  
Oh, and yeah, if you're going to ask if the name is deliberate Adri sweetheart, yes, it is. * smile * What's a fic without my muse and one that can molest Subaru?  
  
And thank you to my beta reader, Rei-chan! 


End file.
